Dance For Me
by Ferocia
Summary: Roxas didn't quite understand what atrocious crime he could've possibly committed to have been deserving of becoming the Master of the most obnoxious prick in human history, but he did know one thing—pairing him up with a pyromaniac when he had a phobia for fire was basically the universe giving him the middle finger. AxelxRoxas, and some others.
1. Saber

**A/N: So, this story is very loosely borrowing plot elements from another anime/game/novel/whatever called Fate/stay night. You really don't have to watch that to understand what's going on—it'll all be explained and I've only used some of the concepts in that anime/game/novel/thing. For those of you who have watched it, I'll be making some adjustments to the way things work, just to make it fit in more with the KH universe and to keep things simple. **

**Some minor words to keep in mind before you read.**

**Magus (plural: magi) - a person who can perform magic. **

**Mage's Association - an organization which is basically... well, the magi-police, though they're mainly concerned with preserving magic. **

**Anyway, yeah. That's all you need to know. **

**Rated M for violence, gore and sexual themes in the future.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing mentioned in this story.**

**Main pairing: AxelxRoxas**  
**Side pairings: LeonxCloud, SoraxRiku, some others I haven't decided on yet.**  
**Summary: Roxas didn't quite understand what atrocious crime he could've possibly committed to have been deserving of becoming the Master of the most obnoxious prick in human history, but he did know one thing—pairing him up with a pyromaniac when he had a phobia for fire was the universe basically telling him to go fuck himself.**

**Enjoy.**

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"_Dance for me!"_

_War pulsed through his veins; all he was and all he would be in this lifetime, from blood to bones, from head to toe. Battle and fire. Red glinting in the smoke-clouded sky, flames devouring everything, again, and again, and again—and it was always the same. Always this bloody battlefield. Different scenery, same results. _

_He was sick of it._

_His arms raised, weapons spinning in his hands like unstoppable wheals of death after he'd shouted his command, and his chakrams were thrown with a deadly accuracy, severing limbs of oncoming warriors as the fire covering the razor sharp spikes disintegrated whatever was left after the initial onslaught. Truly, as if they were dancing through the air, crushing bones with ease as they went, and once again returned to their owner's deft hands._

_Yet, they were losing. _

_They'd been ambushed. Of course they'd been ambushed; it was always some goddamn ambush or sneak-attack or (god forbid if you wished to die with even a shred of dignity) the crappy poisoning of dinner, that ended the tales of heroes. Rarely did they die in a glorious battle__—_only the lucky ones who went on to become true legends after death died that way.

_But it seemed, perhaps he was one of the lucky ones. _

_He had two arrows in his right leg, balancing all of his weight on his left one, and a small hole from another arrow in his left shoulder, though he'd already removed the arrow so he could effectively continue using his weapons. One particularly sly son of a bitch had sneaked up on him and tried stabbing him through the heart from the back. He'd narrowly managed to move on the nick of time, the dagger piercing his rib cage instead, and a few of his subordinates had quickly taken the enemy out. Now, the red-haired captain was low on energy, his infamous fire-magic starting to dwindle, and he was slowly bleeding out as he coughed up blood every now and then. Those fucking soldiers kept coming and coming as if new ones spawned each time he killed some of them. _

"_Sir, we need to retreat!" his lieutenant yelled at him._

_'No really, genius?' he thought with a scowl as he summoned another pillar of fire to blast away a group of enemies, attempting to slow them down. He was panting now, perspiration covering his body as his ragged, blood-stained clothes were sticking uncomfortably to his skin and his wounds were burning. 'This won't do. We can't retreat with the entire fucking army at our back; their archers will slaughter us.' They were with only with a team of fifteen men—three were already dead, five were injured. This was his own personal squad, all soldiers he'd handpicked himself and had worked with for years, forming unbreakable bonds of camaraderie and friendship as they'd withstood numerous battles together. He couldn't let them die like dogs because of an error in judgment he made as their leader._

_He took a deep breath, and already knew what he had to do. _

'_God, this is so damn cliché.'_

"_I'll hold them off." he yelled to his lieutenant who stood behind him, furiously throwing bolts of lightning into the fray of enemies, her otherwise slicked back blond hair all over the place and he could tell she too was running low on energy. She seemed to be ignoring him. "Did you hear me?! I said I'll–"_

"_I heard, you idiot, but I refuse!" she shouted back, supporting one of their melee-fighters as she threw three of her throwing knives, hitting the enemy right in the chest, neck and shoulder. She was running out of them. Her captain took a moment to gape at her, his expression somewhere between anger and disbelief. Despite her always scathing remarks, Larxene had never disobeyed an order before. _

"_What the fuck do you mean you refuse?! It's a goddamn order__—_now take the rest and GO!" 

"_Sorry, _sir_, but I just don't see you holding them off even if you suicide bomb yourself to death." the cyan-eyed lieutenant sneered at him._

"_Larxene–"_

"_I'll stay with you." she continued decisively. "I'm not going to let you play _hero _on your own_ _while I run away like some sort of coward." His eyes met hers, and he could already tell there was no changing her mind. He sighed and shook his head._

"_Stubborn as always." he muttered under his breath, and turned to the left, spotting one of his soldiers whirling around her blade, taking down two enemies though her movements were slower than usual__—indicating her fatigue_. "Xion!" She spun around at his call, facing him with such resolve on her face that he knew convincing her to leave them behind may be difficult. In fact, everyone seemed to have decided to die here; ready to throw their lives away.

_"Lead the team back! Me and Larxene will hold them off until you're safe!" _

"_W-what?!" Xion gazed at him in complete bewilderment. "You can't honestly expect us to–"_

"_That's an order, Xion!" he interrupted her, getting angry with all the bemused looks his subordinates were giving him. "Are you idiots that eager to die in such a meaningless battle?!"_

"_But sir–"_

"_Shut up and get your asses moving!" he yelled irately, barely smacking away arrows with his chakrams, swaying slightly and almost losing his balance. His left leg was numb by now, and his right one was trembling. For a while, the fighting continued, until slowly the front line fighters started to pull out. This put a tremendous strain on both him and Larxene. He summoned a wall of fire, keeping most of the enemies back though he knew it would only be for a few precious seconds. _

"_Axel… Larxene…." He glanced over his shoulder, his petite subordinate staring at him and clutching at her keyblade. Her expression was pulled into one filled with doubt, sadness, and reluctance. He strained to give her his signature playful smirk, for one last time. They held eye-contact for a few seconds, and he knew she was begging him to risk it, to just run with them—but they both knew that could only end in disaster. Larxene stared at her as well, but with a severe look—one she often gave when Xion talked back to her. Those two had never gotten along. _

_No words were needed, and when he turned his gaze away, and so did Larxene, facing the group of enemies who were screaming and trying to get passed the ever-thinning wall of fire, they both knew the girl had started to run. He vaguely wondered if she was crying, swearing he could've heard a sob. _

"_Ready for our last battle, captain?" _

_The wall of fire disappeared, their enemies rushing at them with a vengeance as their archers nocked their arrows, preparing to rain down death upon them._

_Axel welcomed it with open arms._

"_As ready as I'll ever be."_

**Chapter I: Saber**

He shuddered under the covers, a cold wind blowing through his spacious room as he pulled the sheets up over his head, cursing the person who'd pulled the curtains back.

'_Today is going to suck. Just like yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, aaaaand the day before that….'_

"Come on, sleepyhead! Wake up!"

Roxas was not an inherently violent person—but even he couldn't deny the twinge of murderous intent brewing in his gut when his twin started humming some sort of stupidly catchy song while prancing around in his room, and _especially _when his sheets were suddenly pulled right off of him.

"Sora!" the nineteen year old exclaimed indignantly, sitting upright in his double bed and throwing his pillow at the brunette who was flashing him his goofy grin right before getting hit in the face by the object and nearly falling flat on his ass.

"Oh come on, Roxas! Today is the day!" he said unperturbed, throwing the pillow back as the blond caught it and put it back on its place.

The blond young man then let his head hit the bed again, wishing his brother to just… fall through the floor and disappear already. "Just like yesterday, right?" Roxas mumbled into his pillow sarcastically, though Sora still managed to hear him.

"Okay, so maybe this last month wasn't all that great, but you _know _it _has_ to happen before the end of the year! There's only one month left before it officially starts!" Sora complained, grabbing his ankle and starting to pull him out of bed.

"Sora, knock it off! Can't I just sleep in for this one day?"

The two of them looked very similar, save for their hair and a few facial features here and there. Sora was a brunette, and Roxas was a blond. Sora's hair was more unruly and thicker, and he had bigger cheeks with a far wider smile. Roxas was the calmer one of the two, not often seen grinning at all like his twin. Other than that, they shared the exact same height and physique—especially their eyes were identical.

Their personalities, however, were less similar.

Sora, for instance, was completely hyped up for the huge event every magus and his mother had been talking about which was supposed to commence by the end of this year. He was a magus, of course, as was Roxas. There were a lot of them living in the area, practicing their magic in the hope they'd be able to participate in the upcoming occasion.

This event was largely known as the Holy Grail War. The Sixth one, to be more precise. It took place every sixty years without fail, and of course almost everyone wanted to partake in it.

Everyone, except Roxas.

This Holy Grail War was basically, from what he'd been told from his private teachers when he'd been younger, a competition that decided the ownership of a legendary object—the Holy Grail—through an intense battle royale. Apparently, the Grail had the ability to grant any wish, and Roxas had often wondered whether it was a sentient thing, considering it also chose the participants for this War itself. Not everyone could join, and though no one exactly knew _how _the Grail made its decisions, it seemed to be largely based on random chance and luck. Or misfortune, if you asked Roxas, anyway.

Sora, obviously, was hoping to be chosen to be one of these participants.

It wasn't all that simple, however. The participants in this battle, referred to as Masters, were obligated to summon a spirit to aid them in their quest, which were known as Servants. These Servants were often heroic spirits from the past, and bound to their Masters for the entire durance of the War or until they died.

So, you basically worked in pairs with a dead ghost person whom you could treat like a slave to get some sort of glorified cup and possibly risk your life in the process.

It was beyond Roxas why anyone _sane _would want to partake in that, unless you wanted something really bad which you could only get by wishing for it. Of course there was a fail-safe if some sort of maniac tried wishing for destruction and death; the War was supervised by the Mage's Association, and if the winner had a wish that brought harm upon others, he or she would be eliminated instantly.

This had only occurred once, during the Second War, if Roxas recalled correctly. The Master who'd won back then had tried to wish for an entire country to be destroyed, but before he could drink out of the Grail to make the wish, the supervisor had killed the Master. The Servant, however, had gotten to fulfill his wish. Since they worked in pairs, both Master and Servant got to make one wish each. It provided a nice incentive for the Servant to cooperate better as well.

The other winners of the past Wars had all wished for something typically human—immense riches, correcting past mistakes, and the resurrection of a loved one. There had only been three winners out of the five wars. The Second one and the Fourth one had ended without an ultimate winner. In the Fourth one this was because the last two pairs had killed each other during the final battle.

Roxas would rather not think about his brother being involved in such a stupid battle for power, but knowing Sora, he'd wish for something ridiculously optimistic like 'world peace' or whatever. Which was a moronic wish to begin with. The only way world peace could be attained is if it was only temporarily, which would waste his wish, or by making people into indifferent zombies. Violence was part of human nature. Roxas had realized this a long time ago, and found that Sora was too idealistic for his own good.

"Riku already got his Command Spells, you know." Sora told him excitedly, still trying to pull Roxas off the bed. Command Spells were what gave you absolute authority as a Master over your Servant, and proved your status. You only got three of them. If you used them all up, you'd lose your complete power over your Servant, but if they were willing (and if you were lucky), they might still assist you. These Command Spells were absolute orders that could either restrain your Servant from doing something, or force them to, no matter how unwilling they were to obey.

Roxas had no doubt in his mind such a thing had been abused in the past, and the very thought of it disgusted him. Just another reason he'd hoped no one he knew or cared about would end up participating, but it seemed Riku had already been chosen as a Master.

"I feel sorry for him—and let go of my foot!" Roxas sent a kick Sora's way, who dodged and let him go, enabling Roxas to finally roll off his bed on his own volition.

"He's going to try to summon his Servant today." Sora continued with a slightly envious tone, ignoring Roxas' scowl.

"Why do you wanna be chosen so badly?" Roxas huffed, bending down to pick up the sheets Sora had pulled off his bed earlier and putting them back without bothering to make it look neat. The maids would take care of that; coming from a very prominent magus bloodline, their family, the Everard family, had a lot of wealth and power. He'd basically been a rich boy all his life.

"_Because_, I'm going to wish for world peace."

Cue eye roll.

"You realize you'd have to fight Riku as well, right?" the blond said as he sauntered over to his closet, pulling it open and thinking about what to wear that day. Sora followed him, plopping down on the fancy chair near it, which was facing the window. Roxas often liked to read books in that seat with the either the moonlight or the fading light of a setting sun shining on the pages.

"Duh, but we're best friends. All I have to do is defeat his Servant to eliminate him. We won't kill each other, you know." Sora pointed out, crossing his arms.

"You'd still have to kill his Servant."

"But they're just spirits." Sora said with a shrug. "Already dead."

"Whatever. Is breakfast ready yet?"

"Yup! Hurry up and come downstairs before it gets cold, alright?" With that, Sora hopped out of his seat, with an energetic pace leaving the room again. Obviously, _he _couldn't wait to meet Riku and see him summon… whatever it was he was summoning. Roxas only knew the rules of the War, he had no knowledge on what the Servants were other than that they were a bunch of Big Damn Heroes from the past, or something.

He wondered what kind of Servant Riku would get. Riku wasn't from a prominent magus bloodline like they were, but still impressive with his magic, able to materialize a Keyblade as he seemed to be a natural. Roxas and Riku knew each other through Sora, and while they didn't always see eye to eye and had kind of a rivalry going on, they were still good friends, though Riku was definitely far closer to Sora. They met up nearly every day, making Roxas feel a little… well, lonely.

They lived right on the border of Twilight Town, in a large mansion located in the woods. Roxas had used to live in the center of the village, but ever since he'd finished high school, he'd gotten out of touch with his friends, due to them not being magi like he was. They were ordinary humans, and though they all had knowledge of magi, they were still from completely different worlds. He went to see them in the weekends, of course, but during weekdays when they were attending their college classes, he'd be wandering the streets alone or rummaging through the library of his mansion. Their father, whom had passed away a few years ago, had left the twins with a fortune. Their mother had died giving birth to them, their grandparents were all dead, and neither of their parents had had any siblings.

Once Roxas was done washing in his own personal bathroom attached to his bedroom, he put on a pair of standard dark blue jeans, a black pullover and white socks. He also put on some slippers since it could get cold even with socks on, and made his way downstairs. Sora was already sitting against the criminally long dining table, and he took a seat opposite to him, the pleasant scent of delicious food invading his nostrils. The maids greeted him with a smile, like every morning, and he mumbled an awkward greeting back. They only had three, and they were all very nice to the two of them, but Roxas was just really not comfortable with telling them to do something. He didn't like ordering people around.

Sora talked animatedly about everything and nothing while he stuffed food in his mouth, only interrupting his small talk to chew and swallow the food—he'd been trained in etiquette, after all—while Roxas didn't even pretend to listen. He really had a bad feeling about this day, but he couldn't quite say why. Despite the delectable food, he ate it all rather lackadaisically, his thoughts wandering off to think about the oncoming Sixth War.

"Roxas? Are you ready?" Sora asked once they'd finished as the maids cleaned up after them, having already put on his shoes while Roxas had stayed seated at the table, staring down at his half-eaten pancake with glazed over eyes.

"Hmm?" Roxas blinked, looking up at his older twin. "Yeah, just give me a sec. I'll put on my shoes and then we'll go."

A few minutes later and they were both outside, Sora seeming to be in a great mood while Roxas was freezing, despite his thick coat. He'd stuffed his gloved hands as far into his pockets as he could, ducking his mouth under the high collar of his jacket, regretting not taking a scarf with him. It was begin December and full-on winter. The soft crunches of his feet hitting the snow that covered the ground like a blanket was the only noise that came from the blond boy, and he couldn't understand how Sora seemed so completely unaffected by the weather. More energy, more heat, he supposed.

It's not like he disliked winter, or anything. He just preferred the warmer seasons more. Sora didn't seem to have any preference and loved every season, always seeing a positive side to everything.

They walked through the forest until they ended up at the beginning of the town, children and some teens playing around, throwing snowballs and making snowmen while adults were careful not to get caught in the crossfire. Sora narrowly dodged a snowball coming his way, and smirked at the kid who then apologized. Roxas had less luck, though he was only hit on the back and didn't see who the culprit was. Sora dragged him along towards Riku's house, which was your average apartment. Nothing too fancy, and the kind of bland interior you'd expect from a twenty year old. Sora knocked on the door rather enthusiastically while Roxas went on shivering from the cold, desperately wanting to get inside already.

The door opened, and Riku stood near the doorway, raising his eyebrows in amusement when seeing the far-too-excited Sora.

"Did you summon your Servant yet?!"

"Well, good morning to you too." Riku replied with a wry smirk, and looked at his twin. "Hey, Roxas."

"Hi, can we come in? I'm freezing." The silver-haired man let them through and closed the door as they pulled their jackets off. Roxas noticed a strange, blood red marking on the back of his hand. "What's that?"

Riku followed his look and raised his hand to them to give them a better look. It was reminiscent of a rose, though with rather sharp petals, and seeming to be divided into three parts.

"My Command Spells." Riku answered, and smirked as Sora's eyes widened.

"_Those _are Command Spells?!" He grabbed Riku's hand, jerking it towards him as he stared at the markings. "Wow, those look so cool."

"Yeah, well, I still need to summon my Servant."

"But you have an entire month before the War starts, you know." Roxas pointed out, and Riku shrugged as they walked to his living room. The coffee table was pushed against the wall, covered in several books which seemed to be about Summoning Rituals. The center of the living room had an open space, even the couches having been pushed back a bit.

"Better sooner than later. Might as well get to know him, or her, before it starts."

"I wholeheartedly agree." Sora said, nodding profusely—though it was obvious he was just dying to see Riku's Servant. Roxas noticed a sharp object glinting on top of a stack of books in the corner, and the older boy walked over to it, picking it up.

"I'm using this." he said, holding up the small dagger with the smooth, curved, silver blade with a black handle which had a blue emerald embedded into it.

"But don't you only use objects for summoning if you have a specific person in mind? Otherwise the Grail just randomly picks a Servant for you, right?" Sora asked curiously and Riku nodded.

"My dad gave it to me. He said it used to belong to a very powerful man, vaguely related to us. A family heirloom, I guess." Sora let himself fall down on the couch while Riku picked up an old book with yellowed pages. Roxas frowned, not too sure about this 'family heirloom' summoning thing.

"I don't know, that sounds kinda shady." he said, sitting down next to his brother. Riku shrugged.

"Maybe, but I'd rather do that than risk summoning a weak Servant." He pulled away the carpet in the middle of the room, revealing an intricate summoning circle drawn with chalk on his wooden floor, containing strange markings. "It was a real pain in the ass drawing this. I couldn't find any proper instructions on summoning a Servant. I had to translate all the damn letters myself." he said with a sigh, standing in the middle of the circle with the book in one hand and the dagger in the other. Sora was practically bouncing up and down on the couch with excitement.

"Come on, do it, do it, do it, do it do it do it do it–"

"He will if you shut the hell up for a second." Roxas snapped irritably at him, leaning back into the couch. Riku seemed to read over something in the old book for a few seconds while Sora bit his tongue to keep silent under his brother's glare, when Riku threw the book towards them which Roxas managed to catch.

"Alright, I think I got the incantation down." He sighed. "Let's hope this works."

"Yes! Hurry up and do it, Riku!" Roxas pinched the bridge of his nose at Sora's yelling next to him.

'_You do not want to go to jail for homicide, you do not want to go to jail for homicide, it's not worth it, just ignore him….'_

Riku cleared his throat, and started the ritual, his hand raised in front of him with the dagger clenched in his fist.

"_I hereby propose, thou shalt come under my command, and thy sword shall control my fate_."

The markings on the ground around him started to light up red and Sora squeaked in excitement while Roxas simply observed attentively.

"_Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me." _

The entire circle lit up now, a strange wind blowing through the house and sending an unpleasant shiver down both Roxas and Sora's spine—enough to shut up the brunette. Riku didn't seem to notice as he had his eyes closed, focusing on the ritual.

"_I hereby swear, I am all that is good in the eternal world, I am the disposer of evil in the eternal world. Thou, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint."_ He slid the blade of the dagger across his palm, cutting in enough to draw blood, a drop falling down on the circle now, which was illuminating the entire room with red. The odd gust of wind had grown even stronger. _"Guardian of the Heavens!" _

The ground began to tremble, and the wind became so strong that it lifted up books with it, throwing it across the room. The three quickly pulled up their arms in front of their heads as to not get hit by the flying objects, and with a thunderous roar of lightning, their vision turned completely white for just a moment, and when everything slowly died down, the entire room was a complete mess. Books and papers were scattered everywhere, a few pictures on the wall having fallen down and broken their frames, glass shards covering the floor.

The first thing Riku saw, however, were a few black feathers floating down in front of him gently, until he spotted a pair of black boots a few feet away. He looked up, starting to get nervous, and gazed in shock at the man in front of him. His sword was ridiculously long, just like his silver hair, which swayed lightly in the mild breeze. Sora gasped while Roxas could only gape at the summoned spirit. The green, cat-like eyes were focused solely on Riku with a cool gaze.

"Holy crap," Sore breathed, voicing Roxas' thoughts. The man didn't even spare them a glance.

"So, I was summoned once again." The man mused quietly with a deep, velvety soft voice, regarding Riku from head to toe, scrutinizing him carefully. Riku himself had been flustered for a moment, but had now straightened his back. He couldn't let himself be intimidated by his own Servant, after all.

"My name is Riku."

"My Master, I would presume?" The man now glanced at the two boys seated on the couch, probably evaluating whether they were potential threats or not. "Hmph." His sword simply vanished, and his severe posture relaxed—though barely.

"Damn, Riku." Sora nearly whispered in awe as he regarded the Servant. "I can't believe you summoned a Saber-class." Riku just smirked somewhat smugly.

"I guess who dares wins, huh?"

Roxas, however, was confused.

"A Saber-class?" he questioned. Like mentioned before, he really didn't know all that much about the more intricate parts of how this Holy Grail War worked.

"They're like the strongest class you can summon! There's seven different classes for the seven different Servants. You know only seven people can participate, right? So, the Saber-class has the best swordsmanship, and they're usually incredibly powerful." Sora explained, talking rather quickly though Roxas could still follow it, and he turned back to his brother, facing his best friend. "Man, Riku, you really hit the jackpot."

"That remains to be seen." the Saber interrupted smoothly. "My last Master did not have enough energy to sustain my attacks. He died of exhaustion."

"Y-your attacks are _that _energy consuming?" Sora said with wide eyes, now starting to worry for Riku.

"I'll survive." Riku said nonchalantly, putting the dagger back down on the coffee table as he looked around the room, no doubt dreading to having to clean the mess up. "So… should I just refer to you as "Saber", or do have a name?"

The Servant hadn't moved an inch, his eyes locked on Riku the entire time. "Sephiroth."

"Uh, Riku…." Sora interrupted hesitantly. "You might not want to reveal his name to others. I mean, he's a historical figure, and anyone could look up everything about him, and find his weakness, you know."

"Doubtful. I was not recorded into history." the Saber named Sephiroth informed him coolly, and the cold demeanor was starting to put Roxas on edge. He was not the only one, though Riku refused to show it and Sora simply brushed it off with an awkward grin.

"Why's that?" the brunette asked.

Sephiroth was silent for a moment as he regarded the boy with a silent gaze.

Then turned to Riku and completely ignored Sora's entire existence.

"You summoned me early."

"Hey!"

"Yes, I did. I figured it would be better if I had time to get acquainted with my Servant."

"Stop ignoring me!" Roxas chuckled at his brother, thinking that maybe the Saber guy wasn't so bad after all. Sora continued to whine. "Just wait until I get my own Servant! I'll kick both of your asses!" Sephiroth's head instantly turned to Sora, making the twins freeze at the harsh gaze.

"…" The Saber frowned slightly after a few seconds of tense silence. "You are not a Master. I doubt, with that attitude, you'll become one either, unless the Grail is longing for some crude entertainment."

"I'd like it if you didn't give my best friend a heart-attack, Sephiroth." Riku remarked dryly, crossing his arms while Sora pouted. The Saber merely turned his back on the three of them, and took a few steps towards the door, intending to leave. "Hey, where are you going?" Riku questioned with a frown.

"Exploring the area." was the simple reply, and Sephiroth disappeared into thin air, making Roxas' jaw drop though both Sora and Riku seemed unperturbed.

"What the hell did he just do?! Did he _teleport_?" Now it was time for Sora to roll his eyes at him.

"No, he just reverted back to his spiritual form. It drains less energy, and Riku is the only one who can see him that way. Or other Servants, but I haven't heard of any others being summoned yet." The brunette then turned back to Riku and declared, once again, his jealousy at him having summoned a Saber-class, while Roxas leaned back into the couch, completely dazed with the day's events. He wondered if all Servants were that terrifying.

'…_Why do I have the horrible feeling I'm going to be picked as a Master?'_

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**A/N: So, that was it. Tell me what you think in the reviews, and I hoped you enjoyed it so far!**


	2. Rider

**A/N: We're back again with a brand new chapter! I really did not expect so many reviews.**

**So, major thanks to **_**sexydeadangel123**_**, **_**13theReflection**_**, **_**Untitled, Ldrmas, Kiss of Time, Amissa **_**and **_**Minami h. **_**for reviewing! You are hereby rewarded with an extra-fast update!**

**Short recap: Every sixty years, there is a large event in Twilight Town called the Holy Grail War. It is based around ****Masters****—usually proficient ****magi****—summoning ****Servants****, which are ****heroic spirits**** brought forth from the past. They work in pairs as Master and Servant, and there can only be seven pairs, who will meet in battle until only one pair is left to claim the Holy Grail. The pair who claims the Grail will both be allowed to get one wish each. There are seven different classes of Servants you can summon. **

**Last time, Riku proved himself a Master and summoned the incredibly powerful Saber-class Servant, Sephiroth. There is only one month left before the Sixth Holy Grail War officially commences. **

**Enjoy this next chapter.**

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"_Who is he?"_

_A young, quiet boy—a servant among the hundreds of others in the castle of his king—stared down at the portrait he held in his hands. Someone had knocked it off the wall and hadn't bothered putting it back. The man depicted on the portrait had elegant features, certainly handsome, and a stately posture as he gazed slightly to the left, his eyebrows mildly turned down in a frown. His silver hair framed his face in thick locks, accentuating his strong jaw line, and his green eyes seemed almost vivid enough to be alive. _

_Yet, the strangest thing of all was, was that the boy felt like he'd met this man before. _

"_You haven't heard of the general?" the blond boy's black haired friend asked with an incredulous look. "Man, he's like the king's best soldier. He hasn't lost a battle in like, ever! He's the reason I'm going to join the army when I'm old enough!" _

"_Since when do you want to join the army, Zack?" the blond boy asked curiously, while staring down at the portrait. He could barely take his eyes off of it. His spiky haired friend smirked._

"_Since the tournament last week. You weren't there, but you should've seen it, Cloud! The winner challenged the general for a duel, and the general defeated him without even using his sword! He's pretty young too, I think somewhere around twenty, and he's already legendary." Cloud remained silent while Zack continued on to gush praises of the general whose name he hadn't even mentioned. Cloud wondered what it must feel like; having people only remember you by your victories. _

'_It must be lonely at the top.'_

"_What are you two brats doing?!" The two boys, no older than twelve, winced when hearing their boss' voice, Cloud nearly dropping the portrait out of his hands. The tall, skinny man marched over to them with a furious look, ripping the painting out of the young boy's hands._

"_We were just looking!" Zack protested, and the man grabbed him by his ear, cruelly pulling at it. "Ow, let go!"_

"_We didn't do anything wrong!" Cloud stepped in for his friend. "It fell off the wall and we were going to put it back–" The man firmly slapped him across the cheek._

"_Don't talk back to me, boy! I have enough to worry about preparing the castle for His Majesty's guests; I don't need you two putting things out of order!" he spat. "And _you_, I've had just about enough of _your _antics!" he snarled at Zack, starting to pull him away. _

"_Hey, what the hell! Let go you stupid–" _

_Cloud had no idea _what _had possessed him to do then what he did, but he'd had just about enough of being stepped on. On a wild impulse, he kicked his boss in the shins with all the force he could muster, so much so that the man cried out and fell down. Zack gawked at him with wide eyes, and in his panic, Cloud grabbed his best friend's hand, dragging him along as they ran away in their ragged clothes, the portrait lying forgotten on the ground. However, as soon as they got around a corner, they bumped what seemed like a wall, both falling back down at the impact. _

"_Ouch… sheesh." Zack mumbled, rubbing his head as he looked up to glare at the person who'd prevented their escape while their boss was running towards them, nearly screaming obscenities. He paled and froze, however, when he saw who it was. Cloud blinked, first examining his friend to see whether he was alright, then following his dumbstruck look, only to be completely flabbergasted himself. _

_The man from the portrait—the nameless general—stared down at them with a cool gaze, and their boss skidded to a halt, his jaw literally dropping at the figure in front of him. Cloud gulped, not even managing to utter a sound. This man was utterly _terrifying _in person. The air he exuded was one comparable to that of a blizzard; lethally cold and overpowering everything within its range._

_But even so, Cloud was now certain he'd seen this man before. Blurry memories of silver hair and green eyes plagued his mind, but he couldn't tell when and how. In fact, if he thought about it rationally, there was no way a mere orphan servant like him could've ever gotten close to a man who was hailed as their nation's greatest general ever. Still, he could swear…. _

"_H-high g-g-general, s-sir! It's s-such an h-h-honor to meet you!" their boss stammered, bowing down so deeply his chin nearly met his knees. Zack rolled his eyes at this, being the first to regain his common sense, and getting up off the ground, lending Cloud a hand as well—whose eyes were still glued to the general. _

"_I heard quite the commotion and came to look." The man's cat-like eyes glanced at the painting several feet away. "I see someone dropped my portrait." _

"_He did that!" Zack said with a deep scowl, pointing at his boss, who gasped and spluttered at his accusation, making the general's eyebrows rise slightly. "_We _were just trying to put it back, but then this guy got in the way–"_

"_Why you little…. I ought to–" _

"_We're sorry, sir." Cloud interrupted, bowing his head."We didn't mean to bother you." He, unlike Zack, had accepted his place in life. Before he'd worked at the castle as a servant, he'd used to live on the streets as an orphan; completely emaciated, riddled with diseases and on the verge of death. Compared to that life, this one was like paradise, and he didn't wish to squander it so foolishly like his ambitious friend. He could feel the man's gaze lingering on him as he stared down at the ground. _

"…_There has been a shortage of young recruits, lately." At this, Cloud looked up with wide, surprised eyes. The corners of the general's mouth tugged upwards mildly, almost in a smile. "I think the both of you would make fine additions."_

"_Holy cr- I… I mean, really?!" Zack exclaimed, a huge grin lighting up his face while all Cloud could do was gape in shock, much like his boss. _

"_B-but, with all due r-respect, sir, these are just… _servants_! They know nothing of battle!" The general gave him an annoyed look, enough to shut him up completely._

"_Of course they wouldn't. They're children." he replied curtly. "Which is why they will be trained and disciplined properly." He now looked down to address the two boys. "If you are interested, that is."_

"_Definitely! Right, Cloud?" Zack looked at his blond friend for confirmation. Cloud thought about it for a second, but then nodded slowly. It would be nice to being able to save others, like he'd been saved when some stranger had carried him to the castle all those years ago, and had been taken in. To this day, he still didn't know who it was. _

_But as he looked up at this man, he felt like… maybe…._

_Silver hair, green eyes, the same, deep voice…._

_Was this fate?_

**Chapter II: Rider**

Leon wasn't sure what to think of the man ramming his house with his motorcycle, and the giant sword nearly impaling him, as he was thrown back from the sudden blast, but the blond seemed to be completely unfazed by the fact that he'd _just_ _destroyed Leon's couch_.

The brunette man just gazed from his position on the ground, looking up at the large motorcycle which was right next to him, the remains of his couch scattered amongst his hardwood floor, which was, by the way, impaled by the _giant _sword the blond man was carrying. Also, his wall was completely destroyed. If he'd had any neighbors they probably would've called the police by now, not that it mattered. The culprit behind the destruction was a lean but evidently athletic man who had enough strength to swing a huge sword around and crash right through a wall, looking as if he'd ripped a hole through paper instead of stone.

The man's cerulean blue eyes surveyed the wreckage he'd caused, and he turned off his blaring motorcycle with a sigh, stepping off of it.

The thing vanished into thin air, together with his massive sword.

"Sorry about that," the blond man with his ridiculous hair apologized, stretching out his hand to a still rather flustered Leon. "I can never seem to nail the landing." Leon took a few more moments to stare at him before taking his hand and being helped up off the ground by his new Servant.

He'd been pretty sure that the destruction of property hadn't been listed in the rules – but he supposed it was just his luck.

"…Right. Next time, just knock." Leon muttered, bending down to pick up his coffee mug which was miraculously still intact, and the book he'd used to perform the Summoning Ritual. "Well, since you decided to wreck my house with your entrance, you might as well tell me your name."

"Cloud Strife." Leon thought about the name for a moment, and slowly raised his eyebrows.

"Seriously?"

"Something wrong with my name?" Leon sighed and shook his head.

"No, never mind. I guess I have no room to talk, anyhow." He looked the blond man over, and found it rather curious that he was dressed in such modern clothes, with a motorcycle no less. "You're a Rider-class, then?" Cloud nodded. Servants in the Rider-class didn't have any particularly high attributes when on foot. Their strength and endurance was generally average, though they had good agility. However, once on their rides (in this case, a motorcycle) all of their attributes gained a huge boost. If he recalled correctly, a Rider's mount was their Noble Phantasm. Noble Phantasms were very fancy terms for what was simply put a Servant's signature weapon or ability. In Cloud's case, his Noble Phantasm was his motorcycle. It could also be his blade, since Servants sometimes had multiple Noble Phantasms, though this wasn't all that common.

"I was… kind of expecting a horse, or something." Leon admitted while he started picking up small rubble around them. The coffee table, together with the couch, had been smashed into pieces, and he wasn't even going to start with the giant hole in the wall. Cloud watched him for a few seconds before he bent down and started to help.

"When Servants are summoned, they automatically gain complete knowledge on modern technology.. Otherwise we'd freak out every three seconds." the Rider explained, picking up parts of the destroyed couch. "With me, Fenrir is upgraded with every war to fit the timeline. I don't think that's the case for other Servants, apart from clothes, anyway."

"Fenrir?"

"My motorcycle."

"…" Leon wasn't sure what to say to that and decided to just head to the kitchen to get a garbage bag or ten. When he got back he handed a few to Cloud and they cleaned most of the mess up in silence. Leon still didn't know what to make of the guy, but he seemed friendly enough. Not exactly the hero-type he'd imagined, though. He actually seemed more like a pretty-boy at first glance, if it weren't for the muscles visible on his exposed arms and the well-built frame.

"You can just call me Leon, by the way." He then said when realizing he hadn't even introduced himself."

"Hmm." Cloud stuffed the leg of the coffee table inside a bag. "Then what's your full name?" Leon stayed silent for a moment. "It's only fair since I gave you mine." the blond pointed out. His lips were in an expressionless line, but his eyes glinted with curiosity as they stared at their Master.

"Squall Leonhart." Leon murmured. Cloud froze for a moment, gazing at Leon, the corners of his mouth tugging up in a smile, which then widened in a smirk. "Laugh it up, but you'd better not tell anyone else." Leon said with a frown. It wasn't like he didn't _know _his name sounded silly. He could only wonder whether his parents had been drunk when deciding on his name.

"Is that an order, Master Squall?" Cloud said with a completely serious voice and face, though the amusement in his eyes betrayed him. Leon found them to be awfully expressive. He had never known eyes could do that.

"Don't call me that." he huffed, tearing his gaze away from his Servant before he fell in some sort of weird trance.

"If you wish." Cloud responded calmly, returning to picking up the mess.

He was seriously considering using one of his Command Spells to permanently bar the blond from ever letting it slip. He glanced down at the markings of the Command Spells on his left arm. They were in the form of three separate, blood red lines around his wrist, drawn as if they had thorns on them. It was a simple design, and easy to hide.

He sighed and pulled another bag open, nearly done with cleaning up, until he noticed that the Rider had stopped moving from the corners of his eyes. He turned to face the petrified blond man with a slight frown.

"Cloud?"

Instead of responding, the man stayed silent, glaring down at the ground.

Then he materialized his giant sword and shot through Leon's ceiling.

It took a while for Leon to realize—'_What the fuck just happened and where the hell is he going?!'_

He ran outside, dropping the garbage bag, and looked up. His house was in a more secluded area of the town, near a hill and farther away from other houses, but the scene he saw playing out on top of his roof was guaranteed to draw attention. The sound of metal clashing on metal rang almost painfully loud through his ears as he witnessed his Servant fervently attacking another man, gritting his teeth and doing his best to kill him.

His opponent, by the way, had a comically long sword.

That was not innuendo.

"Clo–Rider!" Leon corrected himself before he stupidly let his Servant's identity slip. "What the hell are you doing?!" The silver haired man with the long sword now turned to him, pushing Cloud back and shooting straight towards Leon, who had barely enough time to summon his gunblade and block the attack, which then proceeded to knock the air right out of him and send him flying against a tree. He didn't have time to recover himself as the mysterious attacker was already launching a second attack, and Leon could swear that would be the end of him when Cloud intervened, smacking the long sword away so it changed course and pierced the wood, only grazing Leon's cheek. He watched as the enemy stared at Cloud, narrowing his green eyes. He pulled his blade back, and with a jump, almost as if he were floating through the air, took a leap back and took his distance while examining Cloud.

"Tell me, have we met before?" he asked with a hint of curiosity to his deep voice. Leon scowled confused as Cloud pulled him up, keeping his glare fixed on the enemy. He'd always thought that Servants were supposed to have their memories erased from the previous Wars.

"I don't know." Cloud replied coolly, keeping his blade ready as he stood protectively in front of Leon. "It doesn't matter. Leave, Saber. The War hasn't started yet."

'_A Saber-class?' _the brunette thought as he examined the man. If that were true, Cloud wouldn't stand a chance without Fenrir, and the only way he'd win against a Saber-class was by killing him off before the Saber could use _his _Noble Phantasm. Though, Cloud did seem to be a particularly strong Rider.

"Hmph, I suppose I'll spare you. For now." The man had an eerie smile on his face, as he then disappeared. Leon let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and Cloud relaxed his stance, making his weapon vanish as well.

"Thanks." Leon said, though he wasn't too pleased with the new hole in his roof as well. Cloud glanced at him before starting to walk back towards the house.

"No need." the Rider replied smoothly. "Just doing my job." Leon stared at him for a moment, before they got back inside the house and surveyed the damage done by Cloud's… sudden _departure_. "Sorry about that. I sensed him on the roof and decided to strike before he did."

"A warning would've been nice."

"I… didn't think it would make a difference." Leon gave him a slightly offended look while he tied up the fully garbage bag he'd dropped earlier.

"I'm a perfectly competent magus and not a helpless puppy, Cloud." The blond remained silent at this, seeming to mull over something. "What? Bad experiences?" The Rider snorted a wry laugh.

"You can say that again." he muttered as he bent down on one knee, picking up a piece of the ceiling. Leon was glad he didn't have a multiple storey house or something—that would've been a pain to clean up. Instead, his house was entirely on ground level.

"So your last Master wasn't all that proficient, I take it?" Leon remarked light-heartedly, but he started rethinking his words when Cloud's expression darkened. "Cloud?"

"I'll take out the trash." the Rider cut in with a surprisingly cold tone of voice, grabbing four garbage bags—two in each hand—and carrying them outside rather briskly.

Leon watched him leave with raised eyebrows. _'Touchy subject?'_

* * *

Days passed by rather quickly for Roxas now Sora had decided to drag him to Riku's house every other goddamn day, and all because of Sephiroth. The blond was honest to god completely baffled by how obsessed his brother was with this whole ordeal, and personally he'd rather stay the hell away from it as much as possible.

So much so he'd ended up actually calling _Demyx _to save him from Sora—and, in a way, Sephiroth. While Sora seemed convinced Riku had already won with such a strong Servant and was more than happy to be amazed by every little thing the Saber did, Roxas got an unpleasant vibe off the man. There was just something about him that unnerved the blond—something hidden behind those icy pools of green, perhaps still asleep, but still lurking and waiting all the same.

"You're going out with Demyx?" Sora asked him skeptically on a Sunday morning when Roxas announced he wouldn't be able to go with him.

"Yeah, we're… uh, going to a concert with a few friends of his."

"You suck at lying." Roxas sighed, leaning back in the chair which was placed against his desk, Sora lazing around on his bed while studying a history book, still fervently trying to find any mention of Sephiroth despite the fact that the man had said he hadn't been recorded in history. Another thing that irked Roxas. Why wouldn't a hero be remembered, unless something really, _really _bad had happened before his death?

"Listen, I promised him to go, so… maybe next time, alright?"

"Fiiiiine!" Sora got off from his bed, throwing the book down as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back in a few hours. See ya later." Roxas gave him a half-hearted wave and his twin left, leaving him alone in his room.

'_Sweet silen–'_

"Ow!" he hissed, shooting up from his chair at a sudden pain stinging through his right shoulder, as if something had bitten him. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and quickly pulled the sleeve up. Blood dripped down his arm, and he blinked in confusion.

'_What the hell?' _he looked around, trying to see if there was something sharp he'd stung himself with. Nothing, just the desk and the chair. Completely perplexed by it, he walked dazedly towards his bathroom while trying to keep the blood off his shirt, when the doorbell rang. He left it to his maids to answer while he grabbed some toilet paper and wiped most of the blood away. Some of it, however, was oddly stuck to his skin.

"Roooooxas!" Demyx yelled through the mansion, his footsteps drawing closer. "Roxas, Roxas, where art thou my Roxas–"

"It's _wherefore, _not where." Roxas replied, getting frustrated with the bloodstain on his shoulder. He sighed, throwing the toilet paper away in the bin and deciding to leave it as it was as long as it didn't dirty his shirt, and left his bathroom to see Demyx already sitting on his fancy chair near the window.

"I was improvising." the musician said with a smirk when seeing him. "Hey, Roxy, guess what?"

"What?"

"No, you gotta guess!" This man was older than him, and yet had the maturity of a ten year old at times. Roxas rubbed his forehead.

"You decided to get a sex change?" Demyx blinked.

"Huh? Roxy, that doesn't make any sense."

"Well, you didn't give me any hints!" Roxas snapped, sitting down on his bed and pulling the book Sora had been reading onto his lap. Demyx snickered amused, swinging his legs to dangle over one armrest of the chair while his back leaned against the other one.

"Alright, check this out." He pulled the left sleeve of his sweater up, revealing three markings on the inner side of his forearm, near the elbow. They were red, in the shape of three music notes: a quarter note on the left, a beamed note on the right, and a clef on top of both, the three notes forming a triangle in their placements. Roxas' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"You're fucking joking!" he exclaimed, not sure whether to be angry or just in general disbelief. "Does everyone and their mom get to be a Master now?!" Demyx pouted.

"Hey now, I'm a pretty good magus–"

"That's… that's not what I meant." Roxas amended with a frown. "You're a really good magus, Demyx, but… this thing is really dangerous. It's not just a game. People might die, you know." The musician stayed silent at that, staring up at the ceiling.

"Well, yeah, in the past I guess… but the Mage's Association is more involved this time around. Plus, I haven't heard of any psycho's being chosen as Masters yet, like last time." Roxas grimaced and even Demyx' expression soured. In the Fifth War, six out of seven Masters had been killed. It really wasn't at all necessary to kill a Master to defeat them—without their Servant they'd be powerless anyway, and yet there were a few more cruel people out there who found it easier to kill the Master, since the Servant tended to be stronger. "Did you hear that Leon guy was picked as one as well?"

"Leon?" The man was widely regarded as one of the strongest magi in Twilight Town, but he seemed to keep his distance from others. He was kind of an aloof figure, with a small circle of friends. Roxas had seen him around, but didn't really know him other than through hearsay. "So, that's three. You, Riku and Leon. What if the other Masters turn out to be murderous crazies who come after you?" Demyx shrugged.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there." Carefree as always.

"So, have you summoned your Servant yet?"

"Nope!" Demyx admitted cheerfully.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know how." Roxas facepalmed. "Hey, I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, okay? All I know about magic I had to figure out on my own. Hence my super-special-awesome music-water-magic."

"Yeah, yeah." Roxas huffed, getting up and walking over to his bookcase, looking for the one book on Summoning Rituals. Finding it, he pulled it out and threw it to Demyx who reached out to catch it a little too far and dropped out of his chair.

"Thanks, Rox, you're a life-saver!" He could really be a klutz sometimes. Roxas had known Demyx ever since the musician had accidentally bumped into Roxas, completely knocking him over and dropping his art project he'd been bringing to school. The clay figure had shattered into pieces, and Demyx had actually been nice enough to go all the way to his high school for him to explain the accident to his teacher so Roxas didn't end up getting into trouble. Ever since then, they'd become really good friends, even if Demyx could get unbearably annoying at times. Roxas studied the red markings on Demyx' arm a moment longer. The color made an alarm bell go off in his head. "Hey, how do you get your Command Spells, anyway?" Demyx put his index finger on his chin, tapping it lightly as he thought back.

"Well, I was just preparing breakfast, when my arm suddenly started hurting out of nowhere–"

'_Wait a minute.'_

" –and I pulled up my sleeve and I suddenly saw blood! I hadn't even hit it or anything–"

'_WAIT A MINUTE!' _

"–but I tried to wash it off, and this part didn't want to get off… Roxas?" Demyx gazed mystified at his friend as the blond rushed out of the room and into the bathroom as if the devil was chasing him. Roxas, his face having paled considerably, pulled up his sleeve with his heart pounding while he prayed to whatever was out there—_'Please, please, please, I really don't want to get dragged into this, please, for the love of god, please, no, no, no, no, SHIT!' _

Three blood red markings on his bicep—the left side of a heart, the right side of a heart, and a sword piercing it in half.

'_Fuck my life.'_

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was it for today!**

**So far, a quick recap on the Servants.**

**Noble Phantasm – signature weapons and abilities (or in the Rider's case, mounts/vehicles) which symbolize the Servant and considered to be their unique property/trump card/strongest attack. **

**Saber class (Sephiroth) – specializes in swordsmanship and has the highest overall attributes in speed, strength, endurance and defense. Lower on magic, but makes up on it with incredible power. Widely regarded as the strongest class. In exchange, however, consumes more energy from their Master than other classes.**

**Rider class (Cloud) – known for riding on their mounts or in more modern times, vehicles. Most of their attributes are somewhat low on foot when compared to other classes. Gains a huge boost when riding, however, and tends to have multiple Noble Phantasms to make up for the lack of power when they're not on their mounts. **

**So, there are five other classes which will be revealed in the future (unless you're a little too curious and decide to google it) but I'll introduce them gradually as we go along.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Berserker

**A/N: Another extremely fast update. Alas, I have school exams to study for the coming next two weeks, so the next updates will be a little slower. Hope you understand.**

**Major thanks to **_**ConvertedToZemyx30, Amissa, Kiss of Time, Untitled, dragon-fire-719**_** and **_**Ldrmas **_**for reviewing!**

**Short recap: Leon used a Summoning Ritual and received a Rider-class Servant, Cloud Strife. We got some info on Noble Phantasms, which are ultra-attacks/weapons which are unique to their Servant, or, in Cloud's case, his motorcycle Fenrir, which boosts his attributes significantly when he rides it. Sephiroth, who was exploring the Town, sensed Cloud's presence and the two engaged in a short battle before the Saber backed down. It seems the two might've met before, which is odd since Servants' memories are erased at the end of each War. **

**In other news, Sora is HGW-obsessed (HGW = Holy Grail War) and Roxas' musician friend, Demyx, turns out to be a Master as well. To Roxas' horror, he too receives the Command Spells which mark you as a Master and is now forced to compete in the HGW. **

**There are only three-and-a-half weeks left before it begins.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"_I win."_

_His fellow captain smirked down at him triumphantly, clearly reveling in his victory as his green eyes glinted down at him playfully. Narrowed, yellow ones glared back for a moment, before the redhead extended his hands and pulled him up off the ground. _

"_You were lucky." Saïx replied coolly, rolling his right shoulder which he'd wounded during an intense sparring session last week. They were outside, behind their lord's castle in a small clearing in the woods during a sunny Tuesday afternoon. He'd been holding back, as always. He somehow never could bring himself to spar seriously against the crimson menace, which he'd frequently get teased for in turn and often lost because of as well._

"_Even so, I still won." Axel pointed out, twirling his wooden sword around in his right hand. Saïx had suggested using regular swords since it had been a while he'd felt the weight of a _real _sword in his hands—it had been peace time for a year now. However, there was trouble brewing on the horizon, and they needed to brush up on their skills. Axel had still refused, stating it was too dangerous._

_They were both covered in sweat after a rather intense match—Axel capitalizing on Saïx wound, hitting it and gaining the advantage. He was like that. Even if his personality reminded him of that of a court jester at times, Axel was _always _serious when it came to battle. Saïx had known him longer than most, but even he didn't know about his far-off past which had shaped him into who he was now. He'd attempted approaching the topic on numerous occasions. Axel never budged. Sometimes he'd flash him a half-hearted grin and remained silent, other times he'd brusquely change the subject altogether. _

"_You wanna go freshen up? The river's nearby." Axel suggested, stretching his sore muscles. Saïx gave him a slight frown. _

"_The castle is closer. There's no need for–" _

"_Oh come on, fresh water always beats… er, other water." Axel started walking further into the woods, and Saïx, albeit with a tired sigh, followed. His gaze was fixated on the back of the man's head, examining the lengthy, red locks. They swayed mildly in the mild breeze and almost gave a golden glow in the sunlight which was falling through the thick leaves of the trees towering above them like giants. He'd never seen such a vibrant color of red framing anyone's face before. It made him all the more morose, knowing it wasn't meant to be his to caress. _

_Best friends. Nothing more. Never more. _

_Axel sped up his pace when the relaxing sound of streaming water invaded their ears, and soon they found the narrow river. It was a calm one, easy to cross, but deep nonetheless. Saïx was satisfied crouching down in front of it and dipping his hands into it, the water surrounding his hands having almost a healing effect on him._

_He should've known never to turn his back on Axel._

_With a firm push, he found himself diving down into the river, managing to turn mid-fall so he landed on his back and not his face. Axel roared with laughter, holding his hands over his stomach as he was bent over. Saïx merely stared at with a bemused expression when he swam up, blinking slowly, before scowling and promptly getting out, his clothes as well as his hair soaking wet. _

"_Sorry, I couldn't– hey!" Saïx snatched him by his arm, using his weight to pull both of them down. It didn't matter to him since he was wet anyway, but he knew Axel was a horrible swimmer and amused himself by hearing the man splutter and hang onto him as if he were a lifeline once they'd hit the water. "You...!" Axel glowered as he clung to him, looking like he wanted to shower him in obscenities, but then sighed. "Let's… let's just… get out of the water." he huffed, uncomfortably pressed against the other. Saïx allowed himself a slight smirk, but once their eyes met his gaze softened, the smirk disappearing as fast as it had came. _

_Axel, on his part, was confused as to why Saïx was just… _staring _at him. If it had been anyone else, he would've figured it out by now—but he just _couldn't _imagine the stoic, always composed Saïx look at him in any other way than at most in a brotherly one. _

_Saïx knew this. The man was far out of his reach, and he'd accepted that a long time ago. Granted, he was still bitter over it, but he wouldn't let it ruin their friendship. He swam back to land, Axel immediately getting out, reminding him strongly of a cat as he wiped the now straight locks of his hair out of his face with a deep frown. _

"_Freshened up enough?" Saïx inquired coolly, his lips tugging into a mild grin. Axel rolled his eyes as he pulled off his shirt, leaving his willowy torso—which any woman would gladly kill for—completely exposed. He wrung his shirt out, muttering curses under his breath while Saïx didn't bother, not particularly minding being wet. It was summertime, it was sunny, and it was considerably hot. He'd just wait for his clothes to dry outside, since there wasn't much to do in the castle anyway. But in the meantime, he enjoyed the view of Axel's slender frame; lean but still muscled from the years of rigorous training._

"_You are the true definition of a sadist, Saïx." Axel snapped at him, pulling his shirt back on which was less wet now but still moist. _

"_No need to be so melodramatic over a little water." the other replied dryly, walking over to his friend. _

"_You know I hate being wet." _

"_Hmm." _

"_What 'hmm'? I don't dump cats in your room either, do I? I know you hate cats." _

"_You had it coming."_

"_Oh, very mature. Is it my turn to say you started it first?"_

"_No, because _you _started it first." Saïx pointed out in such a calm manner it sounded like the most rational argument in the world. Axel gazed at him for a while, before bursting into chuckles, his vigorous laughter like music to his ears. Saïx smiled mildly. Moments like these were worth fighting for. Moments like these, he cherished with all his heart._

_That day, he knew, Axel would leave with his group to the border of their nation, patrolling it for six cruel months since they'd gotten several reports of unrest for a while now. It was a pitiful job; the man was a hero, climbing the steps of becoming a living legend at the young age of twenty-four. He'd single-handedly held off no less than a hundred seasoned soldiers during the last great war, keeping his men alive through sheer willpower. This had allowed Saïx enough time to take out the enemy's highest general. Both of them were celebrated as the most skillful fighters in their country—yet they'd given him the task of a rookie soldier. They would've been generals by now, had the king not been a stubborn old fool who thought of their age to be a hindrance. It was utterly preposterous, but Axel had just smirked and declared a vacation like that would do him well. _

_A week later, he heard of Axel's untimely demise. _

_It was the first time he cursed his heart, for it shattered in its incurable agony, and he knew it would never heal again._

**Chapter III: Berserker**

Kairi was in complete panic-mode.

Not only did she kind-of-accidentally summon her Servant, said intimidating monster showed little to no interest in her, declared he was off to look around town, and had left before she could even utter another word.

Of course she then did the only thing she _could _do—call Riku and pray to whatever deity that he had some sort of solution for her. She, him and Sora had been the best friends for a while now, but Riku was usually the one who came up with the ingenious solutions to all of their problems. Now, she had to admit, she hadn't been able to talk to either of them for a while during her spare time or hang out with them because her grandmother had fallen ill. With both her parents out of town on business, and with Kairi temporarily living with said grandmother, it had fallen upon her to take care for the kind old woman.

When she'd been sleeping, her eye had fallen on a specific book with a purple cover. It was a book on Summoning Rituals.

Now, with Sora's constant ramblings on the upcoming Holy Grail War, there's no way she couldn't have known all about it, but since unbeknownst to her, her Command Spells were located _around her elbow_, she'd never known she'd had them until she'd grabbed the book, retreated to the guest room, and read aloud the chants of the Summoning Ritual.

That was when _that man _had appeared. His frayed blue hair framing his face, a prominent scar in the form of an X, piercing yellow eyes—to say her jaw had dropped would be an understatement. He'd briefly introduced himself as a 'Berserker' (she vaguely recalled Sora ranting about it) as she was utterly horrified.

Then he left, seeing she was of no use in her state, and had gone to explore the town.

Kairi realized, that this situation might end up in complete disaster. Thank god his entrance had been completely silent, so her grandmother hadn't woken up. Kairi frantically looked around her room, finding her cell phone on her bed and snatching it off, having Riku's number on quick dial. She immediately phoned him, pacing up and down, trying to calm herself down.

But how on earth had this _happened_?! She hadn't even known she was a Master! Where were the markings?!

She quickly stood in front of her mirror, examining her arms as she waited for Riku to pick up his phone. She'd heard from Sora that usually, the markings appeared somewhere on the arms and very rarely on the torso or face. She tried looking at herself from every angle and finally discovered her markings.

Really? Her elbow? Seriously?!

They were in the form of three elegantly drawn, interlinked stars, the tip of her elbow forming the center point in which they all met. She let out an exasperated sigh when Riku _finally _picked up.

"_Hey, Kairi. What's up?" _

"Hi, Riku. I think… I think I'm kind of… in trouble."

"_Trouble?" _His voice changed from a relaxed to an alert tone. _"What happened? Are you alright?" _

"No, no, I'm fine but, um… Riku, I… kindofaccidentallysummonedmy Servantandnowhe'slostandIdon't–"

"_Kairi, calm down! I can't understand what you're saying. Take a deep breath, and try telling me again, okay?" _She did as he advised her to, brushing her hand through her hair.

"Well, it turns out I'm a Master." she said. Silence. "And I… summoned, um, my Servant."

"…_Okay, then what happened?" _

"I kinda… lost him."

"_Lost…? Kairi, how do you _lose _a Servant?"_

"I don't know, alright! He just took off and I was freaked out so I didn't think of ordering him to stay, and now I don't know where he is!" she declared, not knowing what to do with this situation. She heard some chatter in the background, recognizing Sora's voice, before he took over the phone.

"_Kairi? Hey, it's Sora! Man, are you a Master too? Why is everyone except me turning out to be a Master?! It's so– what? Okay, hold on Riku! Um, so, Kairi, where are you now?" _

"At my grandma's house." Kairi replied, having calmed down again.

"_Okay, I'll come over. Riku and uh, Saber will go look for him, alright?"_ Of course she'd heard by now of Riku's Servant—how couldn't she, with the amount of gossip going around town? She'd never actually met the man before, though.

"Okay. Thanks, you guys. You're really doing me a favor with this."

"_Don't mention it, we'll get your guy back before you know it! What does he look like?" _She gave them a short description, after which Sora reassured her it would be alright and they hung up. She just hoped the Berserker didn't cause any trouble in town.

* * *

Roxas sighed for what felt like the nth time that day as they walked around in the snow, Demyx humming a tune as they were on their way to the library. Even though winter break was right around the corner, he still needed to study and get his homework done. Demyx didn't mind, and said he'd been in need of a book to read to distract himself with anyway. Even if the man acted like a complete goofball, he was very book smart and completely unbeatable in chess—which frustrated Roxas endlessly. It just turned out he preferred music above all else or he could've easily studied to be a doctor or something of the sort.

Demyx every now and then turned around to gleefully examine the footprints they'd left behind, and then even suggested trying to make a 'heart' in the snow in that manner. Needless to say, Roxas gave him a look and asked him whether he was insane, then promptly moved on.

Demyx ended up making the heart-print by himself, only to have it 'broken' in half by a few children who ran right through it.

"Oh woe is me! My heart, forever broken by the careless youth who treaded upon it so recklessly! WHY!" he exclaimed in a Shakespearian (and way too over-the-top dramatic) manner as he fell down on his knees, hands raised towards the sky. "WHY MUST YOU TORTURE ME SO, CRUEL FATE!"

"Demyx!" Roxas hissed, getting embarrassed with all the looks they were receiving from bystanders. Demyx smirked playfully at him before getting up from the ground and skipping over to his side, poking him on the cheek.

"Race ya to the library."

"_Demyx_!" The man took off. For just a split-second, Roxas contemplated just letting him run and trudging along on his own pace himself, but Roxas wouldn't be Roxas if he wasn't competitive. So like the complete idiot he was for _ever_ falling for such a childish challenge, he set in the chase. Demyx had always liked the winter a lot, and loved hearing the crunches of snow as he stepped on them, even if the chance of falling on his ass was huge.

Roxas was right on his heels, and he tried taking a shortcut through an obscure alleyway with a sudden turn. Roxas would've slipped and fallen if he hadn't put his hand on the ground and crouched as he'd slid along the snow-ice covered ground. He quickly recovered and continued to run after Demyx. Unfortunately, in the little maze of alleyways, he lost him.

"Shit!" he cursed as he panted, and decided to wait until Demyx noticed he was no longer chasing him while he caught his breath. The thing from that morning still bothered him. He rubbed his bicep, on which the Command Spells were located. He was sure as hell not summoning _anyone_. In fact, he forfeited the War before it had even started. He had no interest in competing in such a ridiculous competition, and was much less amused with the idea of having some stranger following him around everywhere he went. After a whole minute of nothing but the sound of his own breathing and the distant chatters of people passing by the intricate alleyways which could be found in abundance in Twilight Town, he figured Demyx must've gone ahead to the library and decided to walk on ahead.

That was, until someone suddenly jumped down in front of him, snow flying around everywhere at their powerful landing. Roxas immediately took several steps back, wary with the stranger. The man was wearing a black attire, had blue hair with yellow eyes and an obtrusive scar on his face.

"Who're you?" Roxas asked cautiously, alarmed by the leap. Could this be another Servant? The man stared down at him with a calculating look, yellow eyes glancing to both of Roxas' hands, probably in search for his Command Spells.

"Are you a Master?" he asked monotonously.

"What makes you think that?"

"You seem like a powerful magus." Roxas narrowed his eyes, summoning his two keyblades at once, Oblivion and Oathkeeper. They shined dimly in the winter sun and Roxas kept them ready. The man raised his eyebrows for a moment as he studied Roxas' blades, and then his lips slightly pulled in a menacing smirk. "I was correct in my judgment, then." The man held out his right hand, and a huge weapon, a Claymore, appeared in his hand. Taken a little aback by this, Roxas took another step back and got his keyblades ready. The Servant looked powerful, so he decided to keep on the defense.

The man ran towards him with impressive speed and lashed out. Roxas braced himself as his twin blades met the Claymore, and nearly lost his balance at the ridiculous force behind it. He grunted, gritting his teeth and tried pushing back, until he got enough space to counter attack. The man blocked easily, swinging his Claymore around once more. Roxas ducked and dodged, rolling away to take some distance and opted to fire a spell instead; in a physical confrontation he wouldn't fare too well.

He raised his sword, an ice spell in the form of about a dozen sharp ice bullets shooting out of the tip of Oathkeeper's blade. The hostile Servant glowered as he managed to block most of them with his Claymore, but a few grazed his arms and one his cheek. The man clenched his jaw.

"Tch," He lunged forward once again once Roxas' spell was done with, his weapon raised high in the sky and made it come crashing down. Roxas barely dodged, the edges of the Claymore cutting through his arm and leaving deep wounds as he rolled over the ground, blood staining the white of the snow red.

"The War hasn't even started yet!" Roxas yelled at him as he quickly got up to his feet. The Servant ignored him and this time knocked the air right out of him with a kick. It was clear the man was beyond reasoning. Though, it had been a poor argument to begin with. The War "officially" started once the Holy Grail materialized again, which would be by the end of this year and the start of a new one. There was no reason to not eliminate your opponents before that time.

Roxas blocked another kick with Oblivion and slid his legs over the ground, knocking the Servant off balance by smacking his feet off the ground with his own. This was made easier by the slippery surface, luckily. The man growled in frustration, the cool demeanor starting to slip away bit by bit as Roxas got up. He hesitated a second before attacking the man again seeing as how he was lying on his back, which gave the Servant the opportunity to swing his Claymore up. It hit Roxas full force against the shoulder, sending him flying into the wall with a gasp, excruciating pain burning through the left side of his torso.

He slid on the ground, panting as blood trickled down from his right arm and now from a very deep cut in his left shoulder as well. He weakly raised a hand, channeling his magic to send a lightning bolt at the man, who hissed at the painful contact, though blocking most of it with his hand and a small force field of energy. Roxas' raised arm started shaking, the pain burning, as the Servant made his way towards him.

"Pitiful." the Servant spat, his right hand clenching the handle of his Claymore tightly.

'_I'm so screwed, I'm so screwed, I'm so screwed–'_

"It seems you haven't even summoned your Servant yet." the man continued to sneer at him in derision. "Utterly pathetic."

A light bulb got turned on above Roxas' head.

'_Servant…? Servant! Of course!' _he thought frantically, and tried to recall the chant Riku had been spouting a few days earlier.

"I hereby propose!" he exclaimed, the man freezing for a second, his eyes widening. There was a brief silence.

Then Roxas realized he'd completely forgotten the rest of the chant.

"Uh… help me?" he continued pathetically, his back pressed as far against the wall as it could be.

The man then smirked again, continuing to slowly make his way forward. Just a few feet between them now. But, Roxas was then distracted by a mild burning sensation on his bicep. His _markings_ were burning. Was an incantation _that _half-assed actually working?

"I swear I'm good and… er, I'm the disposer of all evil in this world! G-Guardian of the Heavens!" Complete silence, and fear gripped Roxas' heart. The mild burning persisted, but didn't increase. "Come on, come on!" he prayed desperately, squeezing his eyes shut and bracing himself for his inevitable doom as the man raised his giant weapon, looming above him, ready to finish the job. "COME ON!"

The wall behind him was then practically blasted out in an explosion of smoke and fire, the bricks flying out and the enemy Servant instantly leaping back at the sudden turn of events. Roxas just sat on his place, miraculously not harmed by the flames coming out of the building and surrounding him as smoke clouded most of his vision for a while before the cold winter wind swept it away. He heard slow footsteps, until a boot came out of the hole in the wall followed quickly by a second one, right next to him, stepping on the ground. The snow had melted away instantly, and the large flames slowly dimmed to smaller ones, though still surrounding him.

"My show now, cross-face." a voice sneered from above him. "So sorry, but I can't let you maul my Master just yet." The enemy Servant gazed on rather flustered, though slowly regaining his composure.

"Who…?"

"Who am I?" A smirk, and mischievously glistening green eyes. "_You _can just call me Archer. Got it memorized?"

Unfortunately, the newly summoned Archer-class Servant was too caught up in his little entrance to notice his Master was hyperventilating and having a panic-attack because of the flames surrounding him.

Yeah.

Roxas had pyrophobia.

* * *

**A/N: Happy?**

**To all of you wondering, I was thinking about making Axel the Assassin-class because of obvious reasons (he's referred to as an assassin somewhere in game, he controls the assassin nobodies…) but I decided that it was **_**too **_**obvious.**

**And I dunno about KH's definition of an assassin, but assassins don't generally… create giant fucking tornados of fire. They're, you know, sneaky. So, I went for the next best thing: Archer-class!**

**Reviews, pretty please?**

**To reiterate: Most Servants lose a (large) portion of their memories from their human lives and from any past HGWs they may have participated in once they are summoned. Some feeling of recognition can sometimes linger, however, and later on with enough interaction it might bring those memories back. **

**Berserker (Saïx) – Servants placed within this class are always heroes who have gone berserk in their lifetime. This trait allows them to use the special ability, Mad Enhancement, which trades their consciousness (i.e. sanity) for a large power boost. Their base stats aren't all that high without it. Most Masters are incapable of controlling their Servant once Mad Enhancement has been activated.**

**Archer (Axel) – Servants placed within this class are usually especially proficient with projectiles and can survive longer without a Master nearby, thanks to their special ability, Independent Action; the strongest Archers can be difficult to control at times, in fact, due to their near-total independence from their Masters. They mostly have average attributes, though it varies greatly with each specific spirit. In Axel's case, his attributes are fairly above average. **


	4. Dancing Flames

**A/N: I am amazing.**

**Seriously. In between rehearsing 10 chapters of math and 3 books of economics for my second exam period, I managed to write this third chapter because of the ridiculous amount of reviews for the last chapter. All things considered, things went reasonably well.**

**Plus, this is the longest chapter as of yet.**

**And now my brain is in a freaking coma. Excuse me while I go crawl into a hole and die.**

**Great thanks to **_**ConvertedToZemyx30, Amissa, WindWisp, HopeSproutsWings, Ldrman, p3lu54, Cloud Traveler, Kiss of Time, **__**dragon-fire-719 **_**and**_** xOwleX. **_**I'd hope you'll review again to help cure my gigantic headache. Reviews make me smile **

**Short recap: Saïx is a Berserker who used to feel a one-sided love for his best friend, Axel, who turns out to be an Archer. Saïx was summoned by Kairi and took off, finding Roxas and attacking him. While Roxas held his own for a while, the Berserker proved too much as he seemed to gain strength the angrier he got, and Roxas was forced to summon Axel, who uses fire-based magic. Problem: Roxas has pyrophobia. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"_H… help! "_

_He whimpered when the fire burned away a part of the wall on his left, curled into a little ball, shaking and quivering while tears streamed down his face. The smoke surrounding him was starting to make it difficult to breathe. The seven year old was surrounded, pressed against the wall as flames slowly licked away his surroundings, starting to close in on him. He didn't know how it had happened and it didn't matter—he just wanted to get out of there, but all exits were blocked. He could see the window on the opposite side of the room, but the fire prevented him from going there and making a run for it. He yelped when another piece of the ceiling caved in and came crashing down, taking another part of the floor with it. _

"_Help!" His voice had grown hoarse. He'd been trapped there for a few minutes, and as a seven year old the only spells he knew were basic levitation spells and shooting sparks out of his fingers. No water spells. _

_He'd seen his teacher burn to death, in front of his very eyes. It had been a sudden explosion as all of them had been sitting in the classroom. The children had all started running, but Roxas had tripped, and by the time he'd gotten up his classmates had ran in a panic—the door blocked off behind them by the flames. His teacher's corpse was unrecognizable, laying in the corner of the room. Soon there too the floor collapsed, the body falling down with it. _

'_I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I don't wanna die, I wanna see daddy again, and Sora, and Hayner and Pence and Olette, I don't wanna die–' _

_The charred corpse of his teacher flashed before his eyes._

'_Am I going to end up like that?!' _

_He let out another loud sob, panting for a moment before he blinked through his tears. If only he knew water magic spells. They probably didn't even know he was still trapped in here. If only he could find a way to– wait._

_Legs shaking, back pressed against the wall, he stared at the window which promised fresh air and freedom. If he used up all his magic, maybe he could use the sparks which he usually created with the tips of his fingers to shoot through the window. Maybe, someone would see it and realize he was still trapped there!_

_Desperate to get out, he raised a trembling arm, palm raised and aimed at the window. He tried to calm his breath, his vision starting to blur and the sound of his heart beating pounding through his head. He tried to focus all his energy on his hand. His teacher had taught him it was named 'prana' – the source of every magus' magic. He tried to concentrate it all in his hand. Sparks started to shoot out, but not far enough._

"_C-come on, p-please work." he sniffled, the desperation in his chest gripping him by the throat, making every breath he took ache—or perhaps it was the smoke. Straining himself, his free hand gripping his arm which was heating up from all the prana he focused in it, turning numb at the overwhelming energy pulsating through it. Even for a seven year old, he had an impressive pool of prana, coming from his impressive bloodline, consisting of many accomplished magi. One of them had been a legendary hero back when their country, Zwielicht, had been in a great war with the nations surrounding it. He'd been a combat-oriented magus named Cloud Strife, and the accomplishment he was most known for had been taking down the traitorous high general during that time, Sephiroth, who'd lost his mind over time and had formed an enormous threat. Apparently it had been a gruesome battle with both of them dying in the end. _

_With such a strong bloodline, there was no way he could die in a stupid fire, right? He had to at least try! _

_The sparks, blue and green as those colors stood out the most in the fire and smoke, grew larger and larger and more powerful and Roxas pumped in all the prana he had. Before soon the sparks were flying out the window for a good ten seconds, until his knees gave in and he nearly completely collapsed on the ground from the work. _

"_Hello? Is anyone still in there?!" a voice called, and Roxas looked up weakly, seeing a magus levitating in front of the window, blowing the smoke away with her hand, using wind magic. She spotted Roxas, and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god… stay right there!" She muttered a few words under her breath, and water shot out of the palms of her hands, raining down gently on the room. Roxas was so relieved he started crying again once the fire was out, relishing the soothing comfort of the water dripping down over his face and clothes. The magus floated over to him, stepping down on the ground and lifting him up in her arms._

"_It's okay, you're safe now," she cooed to him and he buried his face in her thick, red hair, sobbing silently. The burnt and completely mutilated face of his teacher kept flashing before him. His eyes had been all but burnt out, leaving only two hollow holes, the skin on his face burned to crisps and not even blood was there. It horrified him; the thought he could've ended up like that turned into his worst nightmare._

"_Ariel? Did you find him?" another voice from outside yelled. The woman turned around and levitated towards the window, Roxas clinging to her as he trembled. _

"_Roxas!" His kind savior landed on the ground with a gentle step, and the blond child looked up, seeing his father rushing over. He couldn't stop crying, reaching for his dad while his twin followed, looking confused and worried._

"_D-dad," he sobbed, Ariel handing him over to his dad who embraced him comfortingly, thanking the lady profusely. Roxas didn't see her after that day, and he'd find out later that she'd moved to another country near the sea, as she was a marine biologist. Roxas would, years later, only remember her name, and her striking red hair. He never did get to thank her. _

_From that day on, fire utterly terrified him. It did nothing but leave destruction and death in its wake, it consumed everything—it almost seemed alive, yet was without mercy. He never wanted to see such a monster ever again._

**Chapter IV: Dancing Flames**

Roxas was having flashbacks.

Unpleasant flashbacks.

His Servant, apparently, was completely oblivious as he made a witty remark to his attacker. He also mentioned his name, but Roxas was too terrified to notice. Roxas wanted to tell him to shut up and put the damn flames out, but nothing but a whimper escaped his lips. It was enough to draw the Archer's attention. Roxas hadn't even looked at him, too fixated on the sizzling flames to notice, let alone comprehend his half-assed Summoning had worked.

"Hey, kid. You look a little pale." He barely registered the Archer's voice. It was slightly raspy with a light-hearted undertone to it.

"P… put… put out…."

"Speak up! I can't hear ya when you're muttering like that."

"PUT THE DAMN FIRE OUT!" The Archer took a step back, flustered at the sudden outburst. Nonetheless, he was still a Servant, so he made a casual hand gesture and the flames disappeared, obeying his Master's (in his mind, confusing) order. Roxas let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, slowly getting up from the ground, and turned to glare at the Archer.

The first thing he noticed was the wild, red locks of hair.

'_What is it with redheads and fire?' _he wondered vaguely as he took a moment to stare at the hair a while longer. His gaze then shifted to the Archer's face, which had pulled into a mildly confused and annoyed expression, the short eyebrows furrowed in a frown and the bright green eyes staring down at him questioningly. He had dark purple facial tattoos right below the eyes, and he had a very lean frame. More importantly, he was wearing the same dark attire the enemy servant was wearing, and in his hands were the most curious weapons Roxas had ever seen.

Before either of them could say anything, the enemy drew their attention.

"Tch, I have no more time to waste on this game." he stated coolly, the Claymore in his hand disappearing. The Archer responded immediately, the left red wheel spinning, being covered in flames. Roxas immediately took several steps back as the Archer hurled his weapon towards the other Servant, who dodged by leaping back, on top of the building he'd been standing in front of. The wheel came flying back to its master.

"Coward." the Archer taunted with a smirk while yellow eyes glared intensely at him. The enemy Servant took a moment longer to stare. He then raised a hand, pointing right at the redhead.

"I don't know who you are," he mused quietly, "but you shall be the first one I'll slay." The Archer let out a deep laugh. Something flashed in the enemy's yellow eyes, before his scowl deepened.

"I'm so _flattered_, but I'll have to disappoint you there, Berserker." The enemy clenched his jaw.

"How did you know–"

"You don't have a sword or a lance, so that leaves out Saber and Lancer. Your weapon is huge so it would be too showy for an Assassin, and the way you handle Claymores is too difficult to do while on a vehicle. So, that just leaves Berserker." The Berserker stayed quiet for a moment as he thought it over.

"You're an Archer." he then established without a shadow of a doubt, then turned to look at Roxas who'd been following the conversation quietly. "Hmph, you're an unlucky one, boy. The Archer-class is the weakest class. Even Caster has more power due to exceptional magic, but the Archer is mediocre at best. Not to mention the incomplete summoning means he has even _less _power than before." Roxas blinked, turning to look at the Archer, whose smirk had turned sour, though it was still on his face as his left eye twitched.

"How about you get down here and we'll test that little theory out, cross-face!" The Berserker smiled smugly, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at the pair condescendingly.

"I think I shall return to my Master. It would be a lot more satisfying to crush you when you're at your best, Archer. You wouldn't last five minutes the way you are now."

"You talk a big game, Berserker." The Archer snapped, his patience obviously wearing with his opponent talking down to him.

"I'll show you your place soon enough. Here's a hint: it's somewhere underneath the sole my boot."

"Get down here, you bastard!" the Archer snarled, spinning his wheels and throwing them towards him once again. The Berserker let out a laugh, vanishing into thin air. The wheels came back to the Archer, who cursed underneath his breath. He then glanced at Roxas and sighed. "Just my luck. I get stuck with a kid who can't even do a proper Summoning Ritual." he mumbled, probably to himself, but Roxas heard him nonetheless.

"The only reason I screwed up is because that guy was about to kill me." the blond protested with a frown.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. What was that freak-out earlier? Are you afraid of fire, or something?" Roxas looked away, trying to think of a way to change the subject, though too late. "Oh, you're kidding me!" the Archer exclaimed exasperatedly. "You're a crappy magus _and _you're scared of fire?!"

"I'm _not _a crappy magus!" Roxas fumed, balling his fists. "I had to improvise, alright?"

"How am I supposed to fight with you around? You get squeamish at the smallest flames!" the redhead continued complaining, ignoring his rebuttal.

"S-smallest? You mean you can make them bigger?!" The Archer gaped at him for a moment, before opening his hand, making a large flame sprout out. Roxas nearly shrieked, taking a step back.

"See what I mean?" the Archer complained, glaring at him. "That damn Grail must hate me or something, I swear–"

"Put it out!" Roxas hissed at him. The Archer's eyes glinted mischievously and he took a step towards the blond. "I'm serious, stop it!"

"Why? It's just a little bit of fire." the Archer said nonchalantly, taking even a step closer with an amused grin. Roxas took another step back at that, and when his back his the wall he panicked.

"I command you to–" the Archer's eyes widened, and the flame vanished as he smacked his hand over Roxas' mouth before the blond could finish his sentence.

"Are you _insane_?! How the hell do you expect me to fight if you forbid me from using my powers?!" Roxas blinked slowly at the angry look on the redhead's face. He'd been about to use one of his Command Spells, and in hindsight, that had been a pretty stupid idea. The Archer slowly pulled his hand back, eyeing him with a deep scowl.

"…Sorry." Roxas muttered, not meeting his gaze. The Archer was silent for a moment, then sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I just… had a bad experience, okay?"

"Right." There was an awkward silence—both of them wondering what they'd done to deserve being stuck with each other.

"My name is Roxas, by the way. Roxas Everard. Um… your name is…?" The Archer frowned at him.

"It's Axel. I said that like three minutes ago, but you were too busy pissing your pants to notice, I guess."

"…I hate you already." The Archer named Axel laughed, putting his arm playfully around Roxas' shoulders. He was a good few inches taller than the blond. Roxas had expected to feel bones poking into his skin, but all the felt was hard muscle. Not that surprising, he supposed. He glanced to the man's hand, which held one of his wheels.

"Come on, don't be like that Rox. Can I call you Rox?" Axel asked, his cheerful demeanour returning. Roxas glared at him.

"No."

"I'm doing it anyway." Axel replied gleefully, ruffling his hair.

"Ugh." Roxas smacked his hand away as he glowered at the redhead. "Let's just go. I'll show you my house." he huffed, prying the slender arm off his shoulders and started to walk ahead. Axel followed, his weapons vanishing and he seemed to be less frustrated now as he looked around. Roxas thought about the redhead for a while.

Wait.

He abruptly stopped, making Axel bump right into him.

"Hey, what's the deal?"

"You're that guy who stopped an army of hundred top-soldiers by _himself_?!" Roxas said in a hushed tone, though the bewilderment still evident in his face. Axel smirked smugly.

"Yep, that would be me." Roxas gawked at him in the middle of the street. This guy had been alive about two centuries ago, during a fierce war with another nation which had been corrupted by a cruel and greedy king, who set to go on a warpath and conquer the entire continent. He'd stood his ground against countless of seasoned soldiers, taking out entire platoons with his infamous fire magic—no other magus had shown such proficiency and natural talent with it before, earning him the moniker of "the Flurry of Dancing Flames". He would've gone on to become even greater, had he not been ambushed by half of the army and killed together with his lieutenant after ordering his men to flee.

This was _not _how Roxas imagined that historical figure to be like at all.

'_No. Way.' _

"You look surprised. Well, I can understand that—you were probably expecting some giant muscle-bound idiot spitting flames, not a devilishly handsome, charming, witty–

"Don't. Just… don't even go there." Roxas interrupted him, shaking his head with a sigh.

"Lighten up, Rox. I was just messing with you." Axel said, then snickering at the angry look the blond shot his way.

"Stop calling me that!"

"How _cute_." Roxas stopped walking again.

"Listen you–"

"Roxas!" The two turned around, seeing Riku standing a few feet away, accompanied by Sephiroth. When the Saber's eyes linked with Axel's, things happened so fast neither Roxas nor Riku had any time to react. Sephiroth called forth his sword and shot towards Axel like a bullet, the Archer shoved Roxas out of harm's way, immediately pulling out his weapons and blocking the long sword as it came swinging down towards him with a vengeance. People around them stopped, some yelping in surprise, most of them taking a distance and watching the battle in shock and awe.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Roxas exclaimed, watching the Archer defend himself against the merciless blows of the Saber. Axel gritted his teeth, making his chakrams spin with fire, forcing Sephiroth to take distance before getting burned—which wasn't a problem. His sword gave him a wide reach as he continued to rapidly thrust the sword forward, attempting to stab the Archer. "Riku, call him off!" Roxas yelled at his friend, who hesitated a bit. "_Riku_!"

"Saber, enough!" the silver haired boy eventually called out. Sephiroth glanced at him, giving Axel enough time to summon a pillar of fire. Roxas winced, jumping back as the heat of the flames were so intense that he could feel it on his face. He was nailed to the ground, completely frozen by fear as flames were summoned left and right. Now the bystanders were starting to leave entirely, scared that the fight would get out of hand.

"Saber! _Sephiroth!" _Riku tried again, getting frustrated by the man ignoring him.

The Saber's blade made a cut on Axel's left shoulder and on his right cheek, his side, and twice on his arms. They were mostly mild cuts, but for some reason they stung much worse than they should've. Axel figured it must be a special property of the long sword. He summoned a row of pillars, all of them shooting out of the ground and setting the sky ablaze with amazing reach, forcing Sephiroth to take distance.

He started to pant, feeling his prana running out far too quickly, and cursed softly. Usually, when a Servant was summoned properly, an automatic link was established with them and their Master, allowing the Servant to drain his Master's prana to boost their own powers or attacks. But because of the incomplete Summoning, not only was Axel low on prana, much lower than when he'd been a human, he couldn't drain Roxas' prana because the link hadn't been established.

'_Well, shit.' _

Sephiroth, however, didn't make another move and observed the Archer with a cool indifference, before he turned to Riku.

"Why did you stop me? They are our enemies now, boy." the Saber spoke with a mild frown. Riku crossed his arms over his chest with a glare, but before he could say anything, Roxas beat him to it.

"Then why don't you attack me? I'm his Master." he snapped irritably, but then blinked, realizing that maybe he shouldn't have blurted that out. Sephiroth stared at him with an intense look.

"If you so wish." He readied his sword, when Axel quickly jumped in front of Roxas in a defensive stance, glowering at the Saber, and Riku put his hand on Sephiroth's arm.

"Enough." the boy spoke, annoyed. When Sephiroth, after a long three seconds of staring down at his Master, dematerialized his sword, Axel let out a deep breath and collapsed to one knee, his chakrams vanishing and one hand on the ground.

"Ax–Archer!" Roxas quickly kneeled down next to the redhead who was panting, sweat covering his forehead. Blocking Saber's blow had demanded a strength he hadn't been used to exerting, not to mention the speed had nearly been out of his reaction range, and the Saber hadn't even seemed to be trying. Damn, if he'd been at a hundred percent he would've put up a much greater fight. "What's wrong?" He glanced at his young Master.

"I'm out of… out of prana, that's what's wrong." he grunted, his vision starting to blur. "Thanks to your half-assed summoning I'm only at a third of my strength." The cut on his side was deep, and he grabbed at it with a hand, trying to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. "Man, this sucks."

"See? They're of no threat to us. There's no reason to go after them." Riku pointed out to Sephiroth, who didn't seem too pleased with being hindered from eliminating the two.

"Hmph." Sephiroth turned his back on them, vanishing without another word. Riku sighed, figured he'd probably gone back to his house. He looked over at Axel. He'd summoned a surprising amount of fire despite being incomplete. He walked over, grabbing an arm and slinging it over his shoulders, lifting the Archer to his feet. Roxas did the same.

"Come on, let's take him to the mansion." Roxas nodded, and the two started dragging a grouchy Axel away, when a car pulled up next to them. The window lowered, revealing a grinning Demyx accompanied by Sora next to him in the passenger's seat, and Kairi sitting in the back seat.

"Hey, you guys need a lift?"

* * *

Once in the mansion, Roxas and Riku carried a half-conscious Axel to the largest guest room, dropping him down on the bed while the others followed. The guest room was built for two people, and had standard and rather bland furniture, though it did have a small balcony. Demyx took care of Axel's wounds, and though most were small enough to only need a little bandage, the one on his side was a little more severe. Roxas sat down on the chair near the desk, frowning as he stared at Axel who seemed to have fallen asleep immediately once he'd hit the bed.

His torso was bare, revealing the lean muscles and slender figure. His eyes flitted over the trained abdomen, before he realized he was staring and quickly looked away, hoping no one had seen that weird stare. He'd figured out a while ago that his sexual preferences were leaning a lot more towards the male gender than he'd realized—after, of course, the typical denial and angst stage a teenager would go through when getting drunk and making out with his best friend.

Hayner had been even more wasted than he'd been, but he'd been bi so lucky for Roxas he just made a few gay jokes and didn't think much else of it after that. Olette, on the other hand, had seemed to think Roxas was her 'gay best friend' now, and tried dragging him for shopping several times until realizing that he didn't fit the stereotype. Pence had just shrugged and smiled, saying he'd always suspected something like that. Roxas himself had been rather conflicted for a while.

He'd grown out of the angst-stage eventually thanks to the support of his friends. He'd had some crushes over the years, the first being Hayner but after the drunk-incident, Roxas had gotten completely closed off and it had never gone anywhere. He kind of regretted acting like such a wuss now, but it wasn't like he had a crush on the guy anymore, plus, Hayner was dating Olette—though that was an off and on relationship.

Sora opened his mouth to lecture Roxas, who quickly interrupted him.

"Yes, I know, I screwed up the summoning. I didn't have time to draw a freaking circle, alright? I had _her _Servant after me!" he declared, irritated by the scolding look. Apparently the Berserker had returned to Kairi's house after attacking Roxas and Axel and then fleeing from the scene. At home he'd encountered Sora (and Demyx, whom the brunette had picked up along the way) together with his Master, Kairi, who asked him to tell them what happened, and then ordered him to stay at home while the three of them went to look for Roxas and Axel. The pillars of fire the Archer had summoned had been a great help with that. Sora rolled his eyes.

"It isn't Kairi's fault her Servant is psycho. Uh, no offense." Kairi just smiled a little embarrassedly.

"None taken." She fiddled with one of the zippers on her dress. "He kind of scares me as well, anyway."

"I can imagine." Riku said with a snort, sitting down on a small couch which was placed on the wall, next to an old, empty bookcase.

"So… what do we do now? Archer's completely knocked out." Roxas decided not to reveal his identity. Even if he hated it, one of his friends' Servants might hear it from their Master and find out what Axel's weakness was. Roxas, for one, knew it wasn't something as obvious as water. It was probably his ridiculous ego, or the fact he'd never been any good with earth magic—it had eventually been an earth magus who'd killed him.

"You need to restore his prana. Because he's incomplete, doing it himself will take a long time. After that, you need to find a way to place a prana-exchange-link between the two of you." Sora explained. Roxas wondered why his twin was so knowledgeable on this subject, but when it came to almost anything else (except the importance of friendship) he had nothing worthwhile to say. Demyx was sitting on top of the desk, staring curiously at the Archer.

"He has some wicked hair, man. Almost makes me jealous." Kairi giggled and Riku just rolled his eyes while Roxas asked his brother how he could help his Servant regain his energy. While he couldn't say he was fond of the guy, he did feel guilty for putting him in such a situation. Plus, Axel had defended him twice now. He owed him, at least.

"Well… since you don't have the spiritual link, you need a physical link for now." Sora said slowly, a finger on his chin as he thought about it.

"What do you mean with a _physical_ link?" Roxas asked, confused with the wording. Demyx suddenly started laughing, which he then muffled by clasping both hands on his mouth. Riku sighed, shaking his head.

"I think I get what he means." Kairi chimed in with a slight blush. "You know, prana is flowing through our bodies in every part, right? So the body soaks that up in its, uh, bodily fluids."

"…_What_?_!_"

"Y-you know, like blood, or tears, or, um, saliva."

"Or sperm."

"_Demyx_!" Kairi gasped with a deep red blush as the musician continued to laugh while Roxas paled at the suggestion, Sora snickering a little.

"Of course, _you'd _have to be on top since _he_ needs _your_ sperm–" Roxas grabbed a pillow and smashed it into Demyx' face with a furious blush, glaring down at him as the man had fallen off the desk. "Ouch, sheesh! I was just joking. Besides, that's not your only option. You can also just exchange saliva– okay, okay, I'll stop!" he called out when Roxas continued hitting him with the pillow while he was on the ground.

"I think your blood would suffice." Riku remarked soberly while Sora was far too amused with Roxas' reactions to care. The blond nodded slowly, throwing the pillow back on the bed next to a still sleeping Axel. "It's time I leave. I need to keep an eye on Sephiroth." he said wearily. Sora shot him a sympathetic look.

"If you want I could come with you?"

"It's okay, stay with your brother. Kairi, you should return home too. You need to get grip on that Berserker."

"But, wait, what about the War? Aren't you guys enemies right now with your Servants summoned and all?" Demyx asked, getting up from the floor and rubbing his head. The three exchanged looks.

"Technically, it hasn't _officially _started yet–"

"Come on, your Servants aren't going to remain docile forever. For one it seems that Berserker guy has it out for Roxas, and Riku's Saber seems rather eager to kill _anyone_." Demyx pointed out with a slight frown—one of his moments where he argued rationally.

"Fine. Guys, how about we form an alliance?" Riku proposed. "There are still three other Masters out there. If we stick together and eliminate them first, we'll face each other later."

This, Roxas perceived, might be a problem.

He wasn't sure Axel would match up to Sephiroth. Kairi's Berserker, sure, if he became complete, but as of now… his odds didn't look too good. It wasn't like he cared about winning, he just wasn't the kind of person to let others get killed. They were bound to each other now, after all, plus Axel had saved his life twice, and since the Grail only fulfilled your wish if you were the only pair left, he didn't see another option but beating the other pairs. He certainly wouldn't feel too bad defeating that sadistic Berserker or Sephiroth, who gave him the absolute creeps.

Nonetheless, an alliance for the moment seemed like a good idea. He'd worry about the other things later.

"Alright, sounds good." Roxas agreed with a nod.

"Sure!" Kairi said happily. They glanced at Demyx.

"What? I haven't gotten my Servant yet. I'm not planning to either. Don't wanna be a target just yet, since we still have like three weeks to go." Riku shrugged.

"Fine with me." He and Kairi eventually said goodbye to the group, as did Demyx after trying to make another suggestive remark about 'bodily fluids', when Roxas threw another pillow at him and the guy got the hint and left. The blond sighed. Too many things had been happening. He needed a day of relaxation.

He pulled his phone and sent a quick text message to one of his best friends in the whole word.

'**icecream tomorrow 3pm?' **

Sora announced he was gonna go grab a snack and Roxas nodded, sitting down at Axel's bedside when he got a text back. He opened it immediately.

'**awesome, c ya at clocktower'**

Roxas smiled, putting a hand behind him on the mattress as he leaned back on it, but then glanced at Axel. He'd rather have the Archer close for now. Hopefully he woke up tomorrow and was rested enough to go.

'**mind if I bring some1 with me?' **

A minute later, which had been a longer response time than the first text, he got an answer.

'**a date?' **

Roxas scowled.

'**NO' **

He could imagine Hayner laughing at his response.

'**lol ok.. thought u wanted 2 make me jelly.' **

Roxas couldn't help but chuckle at that. Hayner always knew how to cheer him up. He supposed he'd always have a soft spot for the guy in his heart, but Hayner had obviously moved on a long time ago.

"What are you laughing at?" Axel's soft voice made him look up and he turned to glance over his shoulder. He was awake, though still seemed tired.

"We're going out with my friends tomorrow."

"Why?" Axel asked, trying to sit up.

"Because they're my friends and I'm not hiding any secrets from them, including you."

"Oh? And here I was enjoying being your dirty little secret." Axel responded with a perfectly smooth face, though the mischief in his eyes betrayed him. Roxas rolled his eyes and pressed him back on the bed when the redhead tried sitting up to which Axel nearly pouted. "I'm hungry." he complained, then the corners of his mouth twitching upwards, almost into a full-blown smirk. "Roxy baby, bring me some food?"

Roxas contemplated suffocating him with a pillow.

"I'll get one of the maids." he grumbled, getting up from the bed, when his phone vibrated again with a text. He quickly checked it, the sender being Olette.

'**hay says ur bringin a date?'**

'_I take back everything good I said about Hayner.'_

'**NOT a date, just some guy i know! I'll explain it tomorrow.'**

Axel peered at him curiously as Roxas' phone vibrated again with a new text.

'**sounds like a date to me'**

He groaned, walking out of the room and downstairs to find one of the maids. He encountered the oldest, Lisa with her curly blue hair, drinking a cup of coffee downstairs. She greeted him with a mild smile, and Roxas requested politely for her to make a meal for their guest. She nodded, not inquiring about the red-haired man she'd seen with him earlier, and stood up, retreating to the kitchen.

Roxas sighed, going back upstairs. Axel was sitting up by now, examining the bandages around the wounds on his arms with a frown. When he saw Roxas enter, however, the smirk returned to his face.

"So, about the bodily fluids thing–"

"You were listening?!" Roxas exclaimed, a little too outraged as Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. I was just resting my eyes. Anyway, your friend was right, I need more prana. So either start crying or slit a wrist or something. I'm really dizzy right now." Axel leaned back, an arm leaning over the high frame of the bed. "Or you could just stick your tongue in my mouth."

"_What_?!" Roxas shrieked with a red face, and Axel winced at the sudden noise.

"Easy there, Roxas. It was just a joke. I got a headache, you know, so tone it down with the noise?" Roxas sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm gonna go to my room. A maid will bring your food later. When you're done eating I'll, uh, give you some of my blood, I guess." He wasn't looking forward to it, and from Axel's mildly disgusted expression, neither was he.

"What if I get bored in the meantime?" he then questioned, effectively changing the subject.

"You can look around the house, or talk to my brother or the maids." Roxas replied with a shrug, walking to the door. "Just… just don't bother me. It's been a rough day." Axel stared at him a while longer with a slight frown, but didn't respond otherwise and Roxas left, closing the door behind him. He sighed. Just his luck, right? Not only was his servant a smartass who thought he was hilarious, but he was a pyromaniac as well.

Well, at least he still had his friends.

And sea-salt ice cream.

* * *

**A/N: *Is currently dead***

**Prana - the energy with which you perform magic. One can gain prana in two ways: through a spiritual link and a physical link. The spiritual link is established automatically with a proper Summoning Ritual. A physical link would be person A giving prana to person B through bodily fluids, as the prana is mixed within an individual's body.**

**Zwielicht - German for 'twilight'. Haha. I'm so creative. **


	5. Remember

**A/N: So many reviews.**

**My head is spinning.**

**Er, don't worry—it's in a good way :P**

**Anyway, chocolate chip cookies to **_**Amissa (I really hate that I can't respond to your reviews D:), xOwleX, WindWisp, Ldrmas (I got it right this time :P), Ewonsama, ASH KH158, p3lu54, X-Moon-X-Glows-X, Kiss of Time, dragon-fire-719**_**, **_**Untitled, Axel-Got it Memorized, blood as soft as silk **_**and **_**ConvertedToZemyx30**_** for reviewing! If it weren't for the amount of lovely feedback from you guys I probably would've delayed this chapter until next Monday.**

**Short recap: Axel (sort of) chased away Saïx, him and Roxas weren't really off to a great start—what with Axel's jokes and Roxas' **_**I-don't-want-to-be-here **_**broody attitude. The two eventually encountered Riku and Sephiroth, the latter of which decided to attack them. Riku eventually managed to call the Saber off, though the short battle left Axel drained of his power. Turns out Roxas screwed up on the Summoning Ritual and the Archer is now only at a third of his strength. Sephiroth leaves, and the three guys get picked up by Demyx who drops them all off at Roxas' and Sora's place. **

**Apparently a spiritual link to exchange prana (the source of magic) between Axel and Roxas is missing, meaning they'll have to rely on a physical link instead as a substitute. This would mean Axel consuming Roxas' bodily fluids such as blood, tears, saliva, or, well, sperm—though **_**that's **_**highly unlikely to happen at this point. Roxas got stressed out because of all this and arranged to chill with his friends the following day. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"_Not bad."_

_The scorching sunlight on one of the hottest afternoons in years nearly blinded him as he was panting on the ground, his body covered in dirt and sweat—uncomfortably sticking to his skin as he put a hand over his eyes to get some shade from the giant star glaring down on him from the vast, blue sky. It slowly sunk down, he knew, to eventually disappear behind the mountains and leave only a beautiful canvas of reds and yellows in its wake. He would've liked to watch the sunset from one of the mountaintops in the distance. He would've liked a day off._

_Sephiroth did not think it necessary._

_They were on the training grounds near the garden of the king's castle. All around them soldiers were brushing up on their skills—Zack was, for once, taking a break and had been watching Cloud lose for the third time in a row that day. Not that it was any surprise; but he was making progress. Even a simple 'not bad' from Sephiroth was good enough to feel proud. He was an extremely hard man to impress._

"_But not good either." Cloud huffed, getting up from the ground and rubbing his sore shoulder muscles. It didn't really help that Cloud was very self-critical either. Zack, sitting on a simple bench with a glass of water, rolled his eyes at his friend while Sephiroth regarded him with mild curiosity. Cloud felt the gaze linger on him, even as he turned his back on the general and walked over to sit down next to his best friend, ignoring the shiver running down his spine. _

_After they'd been recruited, Sephiroth had shown a special interest in the two of them and had proposed to train them personally. It had been gruesome in the beginning, but even if he was a very strict man, he knew when he went too far. Cloud and Zack had hit the age of sixteen now—nearly adults. Their country, Zwielicht, had clashed with a neighboring nation, Orage, over a broken agreement over a colony that Orage had decided to claim for its own, when Zwielicht had already planted outposts there—only they had not _officially _declared it their territory, and Orage took advantage of that. Cloud and (especially) Zack had been disillusioned about what real war was once they'd first had to fight. They'd used to think it was all one glorious battle after the next where one side were the bad guys and their side were the good guys. They'd come to find out, that the world was not black-and-white._

_The war was still waging in full, though it had relocated itself to the west border of the country. The deceivingly good weather was simply the calm before the storm. _

_Cloud had, after the war had started, seen small changes in Sephiroth. He wasn't as patient as he'd used to be, and was more easily irritable. He didn't think much of it, but there was one thing that was starting to freak him out—the constant stares. He could not understand what made the man so interested in him. He was a mere orphan who got lucky enough to be saved (twice) by an amazing general. The gazes made him nervous, and when he became nervous, he tended to become more closed off than he already was. _

_Eventually, after Sephiroth had extensively explained to Cloud the flaws in his stance and the openings he'd left for him to exploit, a messenger from the castle interrupted him, whispering something in his ear. The general's calm eyes turned cold, his lips in a thin line as he nodded rigidly. He turned to the two friends and excused them. Cloud frowned, growing concerned for his mentor. It was strange how, in the beginning, Zack was the one who seemed to worship the very ground the guy walked on, but then over the years, their roles had been reversed. Oh, Zack still had great respect and admiration for the man, but he sometimes complained about things. Cloud never did. _

"_What are you planning on?" Zack asked, nudging his arm with his elbow as Cloud's eyes were fixated on the retreating back of the general._

"_He's been acting strange lately." the blonde responded with his soft voice, standing up. The past few weeks he had been acting a _lot _more aloof and cold. Usually he'd slip a smile in towards his students, or the look in his eyes would soften when one of them pulled off a flawless form during training, but not even that. Even to Cloud, whom Zack insisted on was his favorite, he had not shown any form of kindness for a while. They both could tell he was very stressed out, maybe had something big on his mind. _

"_Cloud–" Zack tried stopping the blonde from tailing the general, knowing full-well it would only end up in disaster, yet decided to let him be. If he got caught, maybe he'd stop idolizing Sephiroth after being scolded for once. _

_Cloud kept a safe distance as he followed the man back into the castle, through corridors as he tried to keep his presence hidden—and ignoring the funny looks he got from the servants as he did so—when Sephiroth entered the meeting room in which he and the other generals discusses strategy. From the soft chatter Cloud could tell there were people in there already._

_He hid behind a wall as he watched Sephiroth enter. After five minutes, he slowly crept towards the door, making sure no one was there to spot him, and carefully leaned with his ear towards the door, trying to make out the words._

"…_spare more troops!" _

"_But this is a defenseless village, we can't simply abandon them to their fate! They'll be sure to be annihilated!" _

"_Have a hundred people die there, or a million if they break through our defense because _you _had to be a saint and protect some irrelevant small town! I think the answer is obvious." There was a pause as Cloud's breath hitched. They wouldn't… surely they wouldn't just… _abandon _all those innocent people? No, he was sure Sephiroth would speak out against it, he would never allow–_

"_I agree." _

_Cloud couldn't believe what he was hearing._

"_The matter is decided then!" _

_Still feeling a little numb, he managed run off just as a familiar rhythm of footsteps approached the door, and hid back behind the wall again, still in shock. That couldn't be… they were just going to let a hundred innocent people get slaughtered. Civilians. Children. _

_He barely noticed Sephiroth stride past him, and he gritted his teeth, following the man to an abandoned corridor in the far east wing of the castle. He didn't care that he'd been eavesdropping, he couldn't let them go through with this._

"_Are you satisfied?" Cloud froze as Sephiroth had stopped walking. He'd been hiding behind a large closet. Perhaps it had been rather naïve to think the man wouldn't have noticed him by now. He slowly got out from his hiding spot, taking a few steps towards the general with a scowl. Sephiroth turned around to face him._

"_You can't–"_

_Sephiroth's fist slammed into the wall, Cloud falling silent as he watched his mentor whose head was bowed down. His bare fist had left a huge crack in the stone, but was starting to bleed nonetheless. The blonde was speechless. Sephiroth took a deep breath, and looked up to stare his apprentice in the eyes._

"_It must be done." Cloud gave him a defiant look._

"_So you're just going to sacrifice all those people? Families? Children?" Sephiroth's intense gaze made him freeze, and the man seemed to contemplate something as he slowly walked over to him. Cloud couldn't move. The eyes locked on him had petrified him. Sephiroth stood still right in front of him, staring down a long time. Then, he slowly raised his hand, and placed it on the top of Cloud's head, gently stroking the unruly spikes. Then and there, the boy saw something he'd never seen nor had expected to ever see on Sephiroth's face: weariness. _

"_I'm sorry." Cloud's confusion was only momentary when the hand caressing his hair dropped down to his cheek. He froze up again, his heart skipping a beat. "I wish you could retain that beautiful innocence, but it is impossible—and I am to blame for it." _

"_What…?" Cloud was distracted briefly by the thumb pleasantly rubbing against his skin. "I… no, you… you did nothing wrong." Sephiroth smiled wryly._

"_Sometimes I think, when I gaze into those honest eyes, that you would've been better off without me."_

"_Sir–" _

"_I'm tired, Cloud." _

_He'd been just a kid. He didn't know what to do with the heart Sephiroth had placed on the palm of his hands—Sephiroth's heart. All he could do was stare at him, at the man so far out of his reach it was painful; the one mystery he wished he could've solved. He didn't realize that the man was reaching out for help, in his own way. He didn't realize, had he spoken even just a few soothing words, had he even briefly touched upon the hand which felt so cold against his cheek, had he cast even the smallest of smiles, it would've been enough._

_As it was, he looked away. _

_Sephiroth's hand dropped, and the man left._

_Pressure kept building up over the years. Ruthless decisions had to be made for the sake of the country, and the famed high general had the weight of a country to carry—yet for all his prowess and intelligence, he was still young, no older than twenty-six, and forever to live with all the pain and suffering he caused, even if it had been for the greater good._

_Was it strange, then, that his psyche utterly shattered when faced with _another_ destroyed village, one burning because he'd abandoned it? Smoldering in the still hot ashes of corpses were the ruins of where once life had thrived, smoke as black as the night hovering above it as if Death himself had come swooping through the once peaceful town. _

_Sephiroth knew, he was to blame for this. By favoring the King's castle's defense, he'd abandoned them, the people of his country whom he'd sworn to protect._

_He'd abandoned them._

_Sephiroth could only stare at the wreckage as the fire dimmed._

_Was it strange, then, that he abandoned his sanity next?_

**Chapter V: Remember**

He was starting to figure Cloud out.

It hadn't been easy, but after spending a few days with him, it turned out he wasn't all that detached as Leon had originally thought. The eyes, for one, were incredibly expressive, even if the rest of his face remained indifferent most of the time. He had a somewhat sarcastic sense of humor, he was a bit introverted as exemplified by his naturally soft voice, but also very helpful and kind. Leon, in the span of a few days, found himself finding amusement in trying to guess what the Rider was thinking. Cloud humored him most of the time, though he'd receive the occasional eye-roll.

All in all, Leon was content on completely ignoring the fact that he was going to have to kill people or _possibly _be killed in less than three weeks. Cloud seemed fine just waiting for the official start, and so was he. Leon wasn't very talkative, and though Cloud was more than he was, the things he did say were usually either questions Leon didn't mind answering or friendly banter.

Yuffie and Cid came around to meet the guy, of course. Cloud didn't seem at all uncomfortable around strangers—which Leon had kind of expected because of his reserved attitude, but he was simply himself and Yuffie immediately took a liking to him. Cid was less affectionate, of course, but he seemed to approve of the guy. While the two of them were in the kitchen, seated at the table, discussing the oncoming War while Yuffie showed Cloud the latest video game she'd bought and challenged him for a round.

"Why not strike now?" Cid asked with a disapproving scowl. "Ya can get them while they least expect it."

"I'm not attacking kids, Cid." Leon replied, starting to get annoyed. The other Masters consisted of mere teens, and he wasn't all too happy with that.

"Then don't attack the damn kids and focus on the Servants!" Cid snapped at him. "You don't need to kill the Masters to win."

"They might get hurt in the crossfire."

"For fuck's sake, Leon–"

"You _cheater_!" Yuffie shouted, her voice echoing through the entire house.

"I didn't cheat." came Cloud's dry response. "I won fair and square." Leon got up from his seat, Cid shaking his head at him, and went to the living room to see what the fuss was about. A controller for the PS3 was on the floor, right in front of Yuffie's feet as she had her arms crossed and was glaring down at the Rider who'd seem largely indifferent to anyone else—but Leon saw the glint of amusement in his eyes twinkling brightly.

"No way! I had an entire health bar left! You did something magically freaky to the game, didn't you!" Yuffie accused him, pointing right at him. She and Cid were not magi, like Leon, and while Cid didn't seem to give a damn about magic, Yuffie had something against it for some reason.

"I repeatedly smashed on the same button for a combo. What did you call it again?" Cloud's lips twitched, almost into a smile. "_Spamming_?"

"Ugh!" Yuffie threw her hands up in the air with a frustrated sigh. "I'm done playing with you! Leon, you get over here and kick his ass!" Leon folded his arms, raising an eyebrow with a mild smile.

"Why me? Because you can't?" Yuffie pouted.

"J-just do it!" The girl really did hate to admit defeat. Leon obliged with a sigh, not seeing the harm in one round. He'd stopped playing the console for a while, only rarely starting it up when he was utterly bored. He sat down on the couch next to Cloud and took Yuffie's controller. It was a basic versus fighting game, and they both randomized their characters.

Leon hadn't expected to be so into the game once they'd been going at it for a minute. Cloud won the first two matches, and once Leon had gotten used to the controls again, he frowned in concentration as he tried out various combos. The two became so sucked in into the game they barely noticed Yuffie and Cid deciding to leave, Leon muttering a quick goodbye as he half-waved at them without looking up from the screen. He did hear Yuffie giggle about something but disregarded it and continued kicking Cloud's ass at whatever the hell they were playing—he didn't even know the name of the game.

"Damn," Cloud breathed once Leon got his third win in a row. Leon smirked as he leaned back into his seat, glancing over at his Servant.

"Want to make a bet for the next round?" he suggested, wanting to make things more interesting for once. Cloud thought about it.

"Sure. If I win, you're doing the dishes for a week." Leon nodded.

"Vice versa. Prepare to be scrubbing for a week."

"We'll see about that." Cloud replied with a slight smirk. Leon studied the expression on his face for a while, finding it strange how someone's face alone could intrigue him this much. He vaguely wondered what expression Cloud would make if he were enraged. He couldn't picture it in his head. It seemed too intense for his cool face. What about disgusted? Jealous? Miserable?

What about aroused?

Wait.

'_What…' _Leon blinked three times, temporarily bewildered by his own train of thought. '_What the… why did I…?' _

Cloud ended up winning.

That evening Leon did, as promised, the dishes after a simple dinner. He wasn't a great cook, but he wasn't a bad one either, and Cloud didn't complain as long as he got something to eat. Apparently Servants burned a lot of energy, even by simply staying materialized. They also needed more sleep than the average person, so Cloud rested early. He was fine with a mattress on the floor of the living room, though he'd told Leon he was fine with a simple chair as well but his Master refused, practically ordering him to get a good night's sleep on a decent surface. He'd given him comfortable clothes to sleep in as well, since the black get-up he was wearing couldn't be comfortable to lie down in.

Leon didn't watch much TV so he opted to go up to his room when he got out of the kitchen, seeing Cloud fast asleep on the couch. Reading a book might do him good.

He, for some reason, stopped, and looked at the sleeping form of the Rider. The peaceful, relaxed expression the face held this time was almost mesmerizing. The lips were slightly parted, an almost inaudible breath hissing through teeth, eyes moving though they were closed—indicating the man was probably dreaming. Leon wondered what he dreamt about. He wondered whether it was a nice dream, or the often confusing one.

Then he wondered why he cared.

He shook his head at his own senseless thoughts, turning his back on the man and leaving to go to his room. There was still the hole in the wall of the living room he had to worry about. Cloud had covered it with some wooden planks to keep the cold out, though that would only be a temporary solution. Leon sighed as he pulled off his clothes and put a shirt and simple stretch pants on. He picked a random novel out of his bookcase, lying down in his bed and keeping the lamp on his nightstand on as he opened the thick book, reading an interesting detective story as time ticked by slowly.

Just when he arrived at chapter three, his chest suddenly tightened and he heard a distressed shout from downstairs. Had something happened to Cloud? Was it that Saber again?!

He dropped the book and rushed downstairs, but all he found was his Rider thrashing about on the floor, having a nightmare. Leon had heard several times you shouldn't wake people when they were having a nightmare, but as he watched the fear-stricken look on the blond's face, he really didn't give a damn. He reached down, grabbing the Rider's shoulders and shaking him lightly.

"Cloud! Cloud, wake up!"

A pair of blue eyes fluttered open slowly, widening for just a moment in panic as they stared up at Leon, the Rider panting heavily and small beads of sweat covering his forehead. Leon hesitantly released his shoulders and Cloud sat upright, rubbing the back of his head with a deep scowl. Leon couldn't tear his gaze away and wondered what kind of a nightmare it had been to make him look so frightened and messed up. There was a long silence, Leon patiently waiting for any kind of response and Cloud pondering deeply for a while.

"I think I remembered something." Cloud eventually murmured, his look fixated on the floor as he stood up, as did Leon, who cast him an inquisitive glance. "About my human life."

"…" Leon's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Do you want to talk about it?" he offered, not wanting to intrude on him by asking direct questions, even if he was extremely curious. Cloud looked up at him somewhat thoughtfully, then shook his head.

"No," Cloud seemed rather disturbed after saying that. Leon wondered what could've happened in his past life that could've made him have that reaction. He felt a wave of sympathy washing through his chest and wondered whether to… well, do something comforting. The look in the Rider's eyes showed that he was rather upset. Slowly, almost carefully, he put a gentle hand on Cloud's shoulder, giving a light squeeze.

"Just don't bottle it all up, okay?" Cloud stared at him for a few seconds—for once Leon couldn't tell what kind of look was displayed in those eyes—and he smiled lightly. It was an empty smile, but he tried showing his gratitude.

"Thank you." He'd talk when he was ready. For now, Leon let him have his space, and Cloud was infinitely more grateful for it. He truly had been lucky with such a sympathetic Master.

Yet, what he'd seen in his dream… he'd started to remember.

His heart throbbed painfully.

'_Sephiroth….'_

* * *

"Axel?" Roxas walked into the guest room the Archer was staying in, having given him an hour to eat his food. He saw the lone tray with an empty plate on the desk, and looked around the room to search for the redhead. Where could he have wandered off to?

'_Maybe downstairs?' _He turned around to the door when that suddenly opened and hit him right in the face. "Ow!"

"Woops, sorry!" Axel apologized, slipping in the room as Roxas held his nose with an angry glare. "Didn't know you were there."

"Obviously." Roxas huffed annoyed, slowly dropping his hand. Then he noticed Axel still wasn't wearing a shirt. "Don't tell me you were walking around like that?" the Archer shrugged, smirking mildly. "You didn't terrorize the maids, did you?"

"Oh, come on, _I _would _never _terrorize the maids." Axel stated, mock-offended. "I would, however, flirt with them." He added with a wink and Roxas sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Whatever," Axel sauntered over back to the bed, letting himself fall down on his back, but then wincing as he realized his bed wasn't one of those feather-soft beds, the wound on his side aching slightly. "How the hell are you even from the past?" he questioned. Axel turned his head to look at Roxas.

"What?"

"The way you act, the way you talk… it's kind of… vulgar." Axel snorted.

"I hope you're not mistaking me to be some sort of haughty, self-important nobleman." he replied dryly.

"No, not for a nobleman. Or haughty. Self-important? Maybe."

"You wound me." Axel answered, sarcasm dripping off his voice. "I was raised by wild dogs and ate cow's liver for breakfast. Let's leave it at that." Had it not been for the obviously sardonic look on his face, Roxas might have just believed that. The Archer propped himself up on his elbows on the bed. "So, why are you here?" Roxas frowned at the question.

"Uh, the prana-thing, remember?"

"What, _now_? I'm surprised at you, Roxas. I thought you'd try to delay it as much as possible." The blonde rolled his eyes but didn't respond, walking over to the tray and picking up the knife. "Hey, you know, instead of trying to make me a vampire, how about we try something else?" Roxas looked at Axel, who'd gotten up from the bed and frowned.

"Like what?" he asked suspiciously as the Archer took a few steps towards him. He didn't like that smirk on that face _at all_.

"Like, how about a quick lick?"

"A quick li– _no_." Roxas immediately snapped, glowering up at the lean man, who seemed a little confused.

"You'd rather inflict self-harm instead of letting me give you a kiss?"

"How about I spit in your mouth, would that work?" Roxas snarled at him. Axel blinked.

"Kinky, but no, I'm not into that." Roxas groaned, lowering the knife for a moment. "Alright, how about you just stick your tongue out?"

"_What_?"

"It wouldn't be a kiss. Technically. Our lips wouldn't connect, I mean." Roxas gawked at him for a while, wondering whether he was serious. From the impatient tapping of his foot after the ten second silence, Roxas figured he must be. "I won't do anything funny. I just need your saliva, and I'd rather not have you spit." Roxas was still rather hesitant. "It'll only last a few seconds, I swear!" The blond sighed.

"Fine, but I swear to god if you touch me in any other way–"

"I got it, I got it." Axel interrupted him with a grin, and though Roxas was already starting to regret it, he supposed it was better than pain. Marginally. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes shut tight, opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out. For two seconds, nothing happened, until he felt an exploring lick on the bottom of his tongue.

The sensation shot right to his loins and his breath hitched as he could feel the blood rush to his face to form a deep blush. _'Shit, this was a bad idea,'_ he thought a little panicky, feeling Axel's tongue rub over his own almost curiously. A small whimper escaped his throat and the Archer abruptly stopped, pulling back. Roxas slowly opened his eyes to see Axel give him a wide-eyed look.

Which slowly morphed into a wide smirk and Roxas already took a step towards the door, intending to run out the room full-speed, when his brother burst through it with a cheerful smile, holding a CD in his left hand.

"Hey, guys! I thought maybe we could watch a movie toge– uh, Roxas? Are you okay?" Sora asked confused as he saw his twin's face being as red as a tomato.

"I, u-um, I'm-I'm fine!" he stammered eventually, sprinting out of the room as Axel's deep laughter followed him, echoing through the entire house.

* * *

**A/N: Sooooo, that was the end!**

**Forgive me if there are any hideous spelling errors. It's late, I'm super tired and I can't be bothered to correct it all right now. I'll do it first thing in the morning, though, promise!**

******Feedback! Reviews! Thoughts! Anything!**


	6. Lazy Afternoon

**A/N: Well, less reviews than last time D:**

**But that's okay, I still love you guys anyways. Especially **_**Ldrmas, WindWisp, Ewonsama, Amissa Moon, p3lu54, CocoaGirl **_**and **_**Cloud Traveler**_** for reviewing the previous chapter!**

**Short recap: A little flashback showed Sephiroth slowly breaking down in his human life from the stress of holding the position of high general during war time. Back in the present Leon seemed adamant on not hurting any of the other participants. Cloud got to meet Yuffie and Cid, and he and Leon grew closer by playing some video games. **

**Later that evening when the Rider went to sleep, he got haunted by a nightmare and when he woke up he started remembering bits and pieces about his past, specifically Sephiroth, but **_**what **_**he remembered is yet to be revealed.**

**Back at the Everard mansion, Axel convinces Roxas to exchange prana through saliva—and Roxas finds himself enjoying it more than he should. Oh my. **

**Small note before you start reading: you will see Axel being referred to as Lea in the flashback part of this chapter. This is intentional. They are the same person. The reason for this will be explained in the course of the story. In the meantime, make up your own theory about it. **

**Enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

"_Whatcha doing up here_**, **_yo?"_

_A boy with fiery red locks of hair, sitting on the edge of the old clock tower, jumped up to his feet and spun around so fast he nearly lost his balance, the newcomer grabbing him by the wrist and pulling the boy back into safety._

"_Reno!" The boy launched himself into the young man's arms, the ice cream he'd been holding dropping right off the tower as he beamed, burying his face in the shirt of his older brother, who laughed, ruffling the unruly spikes on the boy's head which were even wilder than his own. _

"_Missed me?" _

"_Mhm! I thought you weren't going to be back until next month! Is the war over already? Did we win? Since when have you been back? When–"_

"_Woah, woah, easy there! One question at a time, okay?" Reno smirked at him, sitting down with his legs dangling off the edge, staring down. "Aw, dropped your ice cream? What a waste. You're lucky it didn't drop on top of anyone."_

"_Re-no!" the boy whined with a pout, not wanting to change the subject. "Why did you get here early?"_

"_What? You want me to leave, yo?" Reno teased, nudging him in the side lightly with his elbow. "I just got an early leave. It's temporary, though. I'm leaving in two days again." The boy scowled and glared down, the sun's rays repeating on his face to almost highlight the gloomy look in his emerald green eyes. "C'mon, don't be like that, Lea. You know I have to–"_

"_Yeah, I know." Reno stayed quiet as he observed his little brother's empty smile. He was putting up a front, of course. Staying strong; for whose sake, he couldn't tell. "You're fighting to protect everyone. I know." _

"…" _Reno nodded slowly, shifting his gaze back to the horizon. They sat in a morose silence for a while, and the older redhead had to admit; he hadn't quite expected their reunion to be like this. He hadn't seen his family in three years, and while he was baffled at how much his baby brother had grown, he couldn't bring himself to say it—it would be admitting he'd become estranged from his loved ones, and that would just be too painful. The real reason he'd even ever stopped by was because the war was drawing dangerously close to his hometown, the capital of their country, Twilight Town. It was suspected to become a battleground soon enough, and the army needed to evacuate the citizens._

"_So, um…." Lea muttered, obviously trying to start up a conversation. _

"_You and pops are gonna have to leave the city, Lea." The boy's head snapped up to face him, blinking at first, completely startled with the sudden statement._

"_W-what? Why?!" _

"_It'll be dangerous here in a few weeks. I want you guys safe."_

"_Is there gonna be a fight here?"_

"_I'm afraid so, kiddo." Lea stared down at his knees, his brother starting to feel guilty for saddling this all on him. "Don't worry, yo! Let me worry about the war; you just keep the old man safe, alright? Can I count on you?" _

"_But… but what if you don't… come back…." _

"_No way," Reno immediately tried reassuring him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "No way, I'd never leave you and pops behind. I promised, remember?" Leo stared up at him for a moment, then nodded, smiling a little brighter this time. Reno smirked back, getting up from the ledge. "Come on, I'll get you some more ice cream." Lea grinned happily, standing up as well and following his older brother; the man whom he idolized so much even if they hadn't seen each other in a long time. The sun was starting to sink down behind the mountains in the distance, leaving only an array of red and orange in its wake while it went to slumber, leaving the town it had watched over during the day behind in pure serenity. _

_When it rose again the next morning, it was greeted by an inferno coloring the sky black with its smoke._

_The city was burning. _

**Chapter VI: Lazy Afternoon**

An unpleasant brightness invaded his room as he heard footsteps and the sound of curtains being pulled open. He groaned, turning on his side and hugging his other pillow as he curled up into a tiny ball underneath his thick covers. He glared at the digital clock on his nightstand, the red light flaring 8AM.

"Sora, go away. It's way too early." he murmured. Last night he'd stayed locked up in his room the rest of the evening ever since the embarrassing incident with Axel. He still couldn't believe he'd actually liked it that much. Then again, he'd been completely dry of any form of intimate contact for almost three years—most of his time being swallowed up by studying, graduating from high school, and the past year taking up temporary jobs, running errands, being bored without his friends, and now preparing for the Holy Grail War. It had nothing to do with _Axel_. Even if he were smoking hot. Which he wasn't. Totally wasn't. Nope.

"Rise and shine, Roxas!"

He shot up out of bed so fast that his foot got stuck wrapped up in his blanket and he fell straight off on the ground, Axel standing near the window as he started laughing at his clumsiness. Roxas blushed, more so out of anger than embarrassment.

"How the hell did you get into my room?" he asked grumpily, getting off from the ground. Axel pulled out a small, silver key.

"Spare one. Lisa was nice enough to give me one, since, you know, I'm like your bodyguard at the moment." The Archer looked around Roxas' room, something on the bookshelves catching his eye. He walked over, picking up a small framed picture with Roxas, Sora and their father when they'd been small. "Cute." he remarked casually, putting it back down and looking over the book titles.

"I can defend myself just fine, and next time, _knock_." Roxas told him off grumpily, never being much of a morning person. Axel sat down on the chair on his desk, pulling open the drawers. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" the blond asked with a deep scowl, walking over.

"Snooping around, obviously." Axel drawled, not finding anything worth of his interest and pulling them all closed, getting up from the chair again. Roxas didn't have any kind of secrets to hide, but the fact that his Servant thought it was okay to go around looking for whatever he wanted to was annoying and completely inconsiderate.

"There's thing called _privacy_, you know."

"Oh, that? Yeah, I've heard of that." Axel waved his hand, as if brushing the very concept away. "Pretty antiquated if you ask me."

"You're such an ass." The Archer blinked at this, then grinned slyly, taking a step forward and leaning down.

"You didn't seem to think so _yesterday_–"

"T-that was different!" Roxas snapped, taking a few steps back. "What is wrong with you?! Wasn't homosexuality a taboo in your time?"

"Not really." Axel replied with a shrug. "It was seen as kind of weird but not frowned upon. People just like to exaggerate. It's not like it's a sin." He draped his arm around the blonde's shoulders. "Right, Roxas?" he teased with a wink. Roxas glowered at him, uncomfortable with the close contact after what happened yesterday and promptly pushed him off.

"Shut up and get out. I need to get dressed." he grumbled grouchily, taking his distance from Axel once again, who just snickered and walked out leisurely, closing the door behind him. Roxas sighed, walking over to his bathroom. He could already tell this was going to be very difficult to work with. The Archer made him incredibly uncomfortable, seemed to love teasing him about it as well, and when he ran out of prana they'd have to… well, it wasn't going to be fun. He stared into the mirror in front of his bathroom sink, thinking back of the "kiss" from yesterday.

His cheeks heated up and he quickly splashed cold water in his face. A crush on a dead person was the last thing he needed now. Besides, it was just purely physical attraction at this point—and while awkward, Roxas could deal with that pretty easily. As long as it didn't grow into something bigger, he didn't mind. Personality had always been the most important aspect to him, at least, and it didn't seem like the two of them would ever become friends; right now Axel was just an obnoxious, arrogant, shallow guy whom he'd have to put up with.

He couldn't wait to see his friends again.

* * *

Sora was out early, knowing Riku would be up already as well while his brother was still sleeping. Axel had taken it upon himself to go wake Roxas up, and Sora decided to head his own way now Roxas had someone else to keep him company. He still wasn't quite sure what had happened between those two yesterday, but he didn't particularly care as he skipped happily through the snow covered streets, small flocks falling down gently and settling in his wild hair as he'd neglected to put on a cap. His ears were starting to sting because of the cold wind but he ignored it, humming a tune as he made his way over to Riku's house.

To his surprise he spotted Kairi walking across the street, and remembered she had a part-time job that started quite early in the mornings, working at the local supermarket.

"Hey, Kairi!" he called out, waving at her as he ran over, quickly crossing the street.

"Sora, be careful! You'll–"

He tripped and fell down on his back over the pavement with a yelp, slipping over a frozen part over the ground. Kairi quickly walked over to him with a concerned look.

"Are you alright?" she asked, helping him get up from the ground.

"Ow… yeah, I'm fine." Sora mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. She puffed her cheeks with a disapproving frown.

"You were lucky there were no cars around. They could've ran you right over! You should be more careful."

"S-sorry. Are you heading to work?" he asked with a goofy grin, both of his hands on the back of his head now as he settled in a relaxed stance. Kairi nodded, brushing a few locks of hair out of her face.

"I'm a little early, but I couldn't sleep." she murmured uneasily, starting to walk as Sora followed, right by her side. He could make a small detour.

"Oh. Is it because of that Berserker guy?" he inquired, lowering his hands.

"Well, um, kind of. I don't think he likes me much. I told him to keep himself hidden from gran, which should be easy since he's outside a lot." she replied, her hands in the pocket of her light blue, long coat, a thick, white scarf wrapped around her neck as she stared down at the ground, obviously not happy with her position.

"Hey, cheer up! You'll get through this, I'll help you in any way I can!" Sora promised her when seeing the glum look on her face. She looked up at him and smiled sweetly.

"Thanks, Sora." They stopped at the supermarket where she worked, which seemed pretty quiet as it always was in the morning. "Well, guess I better go do my job. I'll see you later."

"Yup, have fun!" He waved and she walked into the store, and he turned around to walk the way back, wondering whether Kairi would be alright with the Berserker guy. So far he didn't sound too friendly, though he hadn't seen the man in person. He'd attacked Roxas on his own whims, so that was more than enough reason for Sora to distrust him. He then thought about Riku and his Servant. Sephiroth was kind of intimidating, and seemed really strict, but he listened to what Riku said so Sora supposed he was alright. He couldn't shake off this strange feeling of foreboding he had, though. Eventually he arrived at the house, and knocked on the door, which opened about five seconds later.

Riku stood in the doorway, sweating and looking a little ruffled, only wearing a white wife beater, his chest heaving slightly as he was panting. He'd pulled his hair up, though the bangs were still mostly covering his forehead. Sora gulped inaudibly, forcing a smile instead of drooling like a complete idiot.

"Hey, uh, what's going on with you?"

"I was just working out." Riku replied, wiping away the sweat around his neck. "You're here early." he then said with a smile, stepping aside to let Sora in, closing the door behind him as the other pulled off his shoes and jacket.

"Yeah, I'm not bothering you, am I?" he asked a little awkwardly, trying not to stare. He'd been in deeply love with his best friend for as long as he could remember, but he was completely convinced that Riku was straight as an arrow, always having girls flirting with him whenever they went outside, so Sora could never bring himself to confess, afraid it would completely ruin their friendship. Riku seemed oblivious, which was good enough for him.

"Not at all. Give me a few minutes to freshen up." Riku told him with a smile, going up the stairs as Sora looked away before he caught himself staring at his friend's ass. He shook his head, leaving to the living room and sitting down on the couch, spotting the treadmill near the TV, which was on some random music channel. So, that's why he'd been covered in sweat. Riku did enjoy working out on his treadmill a lot. The thing looked rather worn and like it needed replacing. Sora made a mental note on that, as a Christmas gift. He had a history of giving Riku outrageously expensive gifts considering he inherited a fortune from his father, and it wasn't like he was doing anything else with the money anyway. It was mid-December by now, so he had to start thinking about a gift. First on the list was the treadmill then.

Riku came down the stairs a few minutes later, hair wet and loose, shirtless with only some pants on and a towel over his shoulders, probably just out of the shower. Sora glanced at his exposed torso, his eyes flitting over the smooth skin and perfect muscles lining his abdomen, a few drops of water from his hair trailing over his stomach, disappearing in the rim of his pants which hung a little low on his hips. Sora forced his gaze away, biting his lip so hard he thought it was going to draw blood as he stared intensely at an R&B music video.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Riku asked as he sat down right next to him, vaguely noticing Sora's shoulders were tense.

"Uh, whatever you want to." Sora replied slowly, pressing his back into the couch as Riku stared at him.

"Well, I guess we could go out to the mall. I need to get some new shoes anyway." the silver haired boy said, getting up from the couch again.

"Oh, alright. By the way, where's Sephiroth?" Sora questioned, noticing that the stoic Servant was absent. Riku frowned at him, but then looked away.

"Out."

"Where to?"

"I don't know." There was a sharp edge to Riku's voice so Sora decided not to push it. Maybe they had had some sort of disagreement before. "What do you care, anyway?" Sora blinked.

"Uh, nothing. I was just curious."

"Whatever. I'll go an dry my hair, then we can go." Sora was confused at this sudden change in behavior, but decided to brush it off. It was probably just one of those days.

'_Oh! Maybe buying him new shoes will cheer him up!' _he thought with a wide grin, though he could already hear Riku scolding him for using his money so recklessly. Regaining some of his cheerful attitude again, he patiently waited for Riku to come down as he zapped through channels, looking for something entertaining when he heard the rustling of feathers. He turned to look at his left and saw Sephiroth standing near the open window right next to the treadmill, eyeing him coolly.

"Hi," Sora greeted him, putting the remote control down next to him. The Saber frowned mildly.

"You're a strange boy." he mused, Sora getting up from the couch as he felt a little awkward sitting while Sephiroth was standing, towering over him as it was. The brunette was a little confused at his words as well. "Is your brother not a Master?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Then why do you continue to associate yourself with his enemy?" the Saber questioned, taking a few steps towards him. Sora became nervous, taking a step back. "You are too naïve to be trying to manipulate my Master, but surely you've considered that we could hold you hostage as leverage against your brother?" From the dumbstruck look on Sora's face, Sephiroth deduced he _hadn't _actually thought of that. "Foolish boy." He reached out to grab his chin with one hand, forcing the young man too look up at him. Sora was frozen on the spot, his heart beat picking up speed at the nearing danger. "It's only through my Master's affections that you are not to be harmed. If I had my way–"

"But you don't." Sora glanced over to the doorway and saw Riku; his facial expression stoic, but the look in his eyes exuded silent fury. Within a few quick steps he was near them, already pulling Sora away while standing in front of him, glaring at the Saber.

"I see," Sephiroth murmured quietly, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards into an threatening smile. "Perhaps I should remind you, Master, that our goal is to acquire the Holy Grail—not play nice with fools."

"Perhaps I should remind _you _that _I'm _the one with the Command Spells here." Riku snarled, his hand firmly holding on to Sora's who stood behind him, flustered at the entire situation. The two, Master and Servant, stared each other in the eyes for a few long seconds, blue meeting green in an intense stare-off, when Sephiroth relented, almost unnoticeably bowing his head down and walking away, leaving the two friends alone in the living room. Riku turned around to say something, when he realized he was still holding the other's hand.

"Sorry," he said quickly, pulling his hand back so fast you'd think he'd gotten burned as Sora blushed lightly.

"It's okay." he murmured, a little disappointed at Riku's reaction. There was an awkward silence, Riku mostly avoiding eye-contact while Sora pondered Sephiroth's words. Affections? What had he meant by that? Just… just _friendly _affections, or—dare he hope—something more? He sighed, mentally slapping himself in the face.

'_There's no way! Don't get your hopes up over nothing!'_

"Are we leaving now?" Sora then asked in an attempt to brighten up the mood. Riku glanced at him and nodded stiffly, the two of them walking into the hallway, towards the front door where they put on their shoes and jacket. While Sora could not stop thinking about Sephiroth's words, Riku couldn't stop thinking about the nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him that the Saber was going to be more trouble than he was worth.

* * *

"Huh, this old thing is still around?" Roxas turned to look at Axel who'd stopped walking, staring up at the large clock tower which towered above all other buildings around it. It was a sunny day for winter and luckily it wasn't snowing that day either. They'd just been on their way to meet Roxas' friends after an awkward breakfast (in which Axel kept staring at him like a hawk eyeing its prey—no doubt just to make him uncomfortable which worked like a charm—and making suggestive remarks towards the maids). Sora had already left, and Roxas had dreaded every second he was alone with the Servant.

"Yeah. They renovated it a few times, though." Roxas spoke to Axel who gazed up at the construction, a glazed over look in his eyes as if he were reminiscing. Roxas stayed silent as he watched the far-away expression on the Archer's face, before he started getting impatient. "Come on, let's go." He turned around and started walking, after a second or two hearing Axel's footsteps behind him. They entered the tall building, and Axel sighed when facing the enormous amount of stairs. Roxas, however, walked right past them.

"Where are you going?" Axel questioned curiously, following him as Roxas stopped in front of a lift. "…Aha."

The lift doors opened and Roxas shuffled inside, snow still stuck on his boots from outside as Axel slowly followed him, looking around curiously.

"I told you they renovated it a few times." Roxas remarked dryly as he pressed a button.

"I didn't think _this _drastically."

"Well, you can't expect people to walk up to the tower when it needs maintenance every time." The elevator started moving up and Axel flinched at the sudden sensation. "I thought you got knowledge on modern times when you came here?" Axel folded his arms, leaning against the elevator wall.

"It's like reading about it in a book. Actually experiencing it is completely different." he replied with a shrug, staring up. "Which reminds me, you _have_ to take me to a rollercoaster ride!"

"I don't _have _to do anything." Roxas replied annoyed, frowning at the child-like glee on Axel's face.

"Oh come on, I need to know what it's like! And helicopter rides, and this skydiving thing, and–"

"It's _winter! _People do that kind of stuff in the summer!"

"I can't wait until summer." Axel complained, shifting slightly. "By then the War will probably be over already." Roxas wasn't very surprised by this. The longest War had only lasted for three months, after all. Though this remark _did_ prompt another question.

"Hey, what if we win the War?" he inquired. "What would you wish for?" Axel spared him a brief glance before walking over to the buttons of the elevator, running his fingers over them.

"That's kind of a personal question, don't you think?" Roxas was silent, starting to feel a little embarrassed. Axel smirked at his expression. "I have something I want to set right, in my human life."

"So you want to change the past?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Axel asserted with a nod, pulling his fingers away from the buttons. "There's… there's someone who deserved more out of life, you know? I want to set that right." he muttered quietly, straightening his back as he glared at the button with the number seven on it.

"Oh," Roxas didn't know what to say; there was a certain pain reflected in those emerald eyes which hinted towards a deeper layer to the Archer—he could only wonder what life he must've lead. A life filled with war and murder, only to be summoned after death to fight once more. It was kind of strange, seeing him in this new light. Who was this person Axel cared so much about? Was it a relative? A… a lover?

"What's with the serious look?" Axel smiled at him, ruffling his hair. "I'm already dead; what are you pitying me for?"

"Still–"

The lift came to a halt and the doors opened, Axel grinning at him and stepping out, Roxas following him a little annoyed they got interrupted. They were at the very top of the tower now, and needed to climb a few stairs towards a door which led outside—where Roxas' friends were no doubt waiting. Sure enough, when Roxas opened the door after going up the stairs in silence, he saw the three of them sitting on the frozen edge of the tower in their thick winter clothes – and to hell with common sense; they were eating ice cream at that.

"Hey, Roxas!" Hayner was the first to greet him with a smirk, throwing him his ice cream which the blond caught carefully seeing as how he had gloves on and it was harder to catch things with one hand that way. Pence and Olette smiled at him, the latter waving, when Axel stepped out as well. The redhead glanced at their ice cream, raising his eyebrows.

"You know getting a sore throat isn't any fun, right?" Hayner cocked his head to the right, getting up from the ledge and walking over to the tall redhead, eyeing him as if he were inspecting a product.

"Huh. So this is the friend you were talking about?" Axel smirked.

"Rox talks about me?"

"Well, not really, though I did think he was bringing a date instead. But… you do seem like his type."

"Hayner!" Roxas exclaimed angrily while Axel snickered.

"We'll go on a date soon enough. Eventually he'll fall for my irresistible bad boy charm." the Archer teased, winking at his Master who blushed furiously.

"Roxas, there's nothing embarrassing about bringing a guy you like–"

"Olette, _please_! It's not like that!" Roxas interrupted her with a scowl, slowly edging away from a highly amused Axel. "He's my _Servant_!"

"Woah, that's some kinky stuff." Hayner said, surprised at his statement and completely misunderstanding it. Axel muffled his laughter behind his hand as Roxas glowered at him.

"No, I mean that I'm a Master. In the Holy Grail War." His three friends exchanged glances, completely falling silent.

"Well, that explains a lot." Pence eventually said slowly. "I for one don't think he's Roxas' regular type at all."

"Thank you, Pence."

"But maybe that's a good thing! Roxas' regular types are usually massive jerks."

"But he _is _a massive jerk!" the blond protested heavily, completely forgetting his ice cream which was limp in his right hand. Axel smirked at that, putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning down.

"Oh? Are you saying I'm your type, Roxas?" he teased, his breath forming small puffs of smoke in front of Roxas' face with his words.

"I… I uh… n-no, I meant… just-just shut up!" he snapped irritably, taking his distance as he sat down next to Olette, dragging Hayner with him to make sure he sat between his two friends. Axel slowly walked over as well, sitting next to Hayner, who grinned at him.

"I think I like you. Let's be friends."

"You traitor!" Roxas declared with a glare, then taking a lick from his ice cream. Despite the weather, it still tasted good. Maybe they'd get sore throats from this, but it was their tradition, regardless of the season.

"So, this Holy Grail War…." Pence started, but didn't finish his sentence. His friend merely shrugged.

"It's not like I wanted to be in it. It just happened."

"If you win you get a wish, right?" Olette asked, having finished her ice cream and throwing her stick down, Roxas vaguely wondering if she'd hit someone on the head with that. "What would you wish for?"

"Uhm," Roxas leaned back a little, staring down at his sea-salt ice cream. "I don't know yet." he replied with a shake of his head. He honestly hadn't thought about it, but if he was going to survive this whole ordeal and Axel too, then… he'd have to wish for _something_ right? But what? Nothing for himself—he already had everything he wanted in life. Something selfless, then? But a wish wasn't something to be trivialized; he could bend the very laws of nature if he wanted to if he formulated it correctly. Would he wish for an endless supply of natural resources so even the poor could live better lives if they wanted to and would never starve? Would he wish to make the occurrence of wars as minimal as possible, seeing as how an eternal peace was impossible?

No. Nothing all that complicated which might become twisted by the Grail and which could have bigger consequences he did not realize.

Wishing for a cure to all forms of cancer seemed simple enough for now.

"Do you know who the other Masters are?"

"Yeah, some of them. Riku is one, Demyx and Leon too. Oh, and Kairi as well. I don't know about the other two though." he replied.

"I heard Seifer turned out to be one."

"_Seifer_?!" Roxas repeated with wide eyes. If there was one guy who may have formed a problem, it was definitely Seifer. The magus had an inflated ego ten times the size of Axel's and thought he owned the entire town. Great. Just what they needed.

"You'd just prepare yourself, Roxas. Something tells me he's not going to wait until the official start of the War." Hayner warned him with a serious look. Axel curiously asked what was up with Seifer, and Pence was kind enough to explain to him that Seifer and his gang had always been rivals of some sort to their own gang. Seifer would often prance around the city, perform vigilante "justice" which was more like bullying than anything else, and was overall rather power-hungry. He especially seemed to have it out for Roxas, though they'd been avoiding each other mostly for the past few months—ever since Roxas kicked the shit out of him during a casual magic-competition, Seifer had left him alone and Roxas hadn't been stupid enough to provoke him.

The conversation took a more casual shift, and yet after hearing the news about Seifer, Roxas couldn't help but feel a confrontation was nearing soon. He just hoped it wouldn't end up being deadly.

* * *

**A/N: So, there we go. Another (lengthy) chapter! Things will start to get more serious from now on.**

**Bit of trivia: I named this chapter after the OST in Kingdom Hearts II called "Lazy Afternoon", which plays during the first part of the game in Twilight Town with Roxas. It seemed appropriate.**

**Tell me what you thought by dropping a review, please! I really need to motivation. **

**I'll see ya next time. **


	7. Looming

**A/N: So many reviews this time! You guys make my day! And sorry for the awful long wait but I decided to prioritize on school, so yeah.**

**Huge thanks to **_**13theReflection, Ldrmas, Axel-Got it Memorized, WindWisp, Ewonsama, p3lu54, Akira, Amissa Moon, Guest, CocoaGirl, **__**bitterbeauty813**_**and**_** Concise Complexity**_**!**

**Short recap: A part of Axel's past is revealed, and it turns out to be rather depressing. **

**Roxas and Axel pretty much mess around (or more like Axel messes around with Roxas) and eventually Roxas comes to find out Axel might be a more complex person that he'd initially thought, as they then meet up with Roxas' friends—Hayner, Pence and Olette—and hang out for the afternoon.**

**Meanwhile, things with Riku and Sephiroth are starting to get more tense as they seem to disagree on the topic of Sora—who, by the way, turns out to have a major crush on his best friend for quite a long time.**

**Here's the next chapter, sorry for the wait and enjoy!**

* * *

"_In the world of magi, bloodline is everything. After all, the secrets of magic cannot be discovered in a single generation; a parent passes on the result of a lifetime spent training to their child. Thus, the older the family of magi, the greater their power." _

_The two ten year old boys stared up attentively at their old and wizened private tutor while they were seated at a table in their mansion's library, their father away for business and the twins left alone to their studies during summer vacation. _

_Sora excitedly raised his hand._

"_Teacher, how old is our family?" he asked curiously. The old man stroked his long beard tentatively as he pondered the young boy's question._

"_Well, the Everard lineage, I'd say… is at least a thousand years old."_

"_A thousand?!" Roxas exclaimed, completely baffled by the sheer number. "That's amazing!"_

"_Indeed, your family dates back quite a lot. In fact, your bloodline is one that once wielded the Third Magic." Sora and Roxas exchanged curious looks. Their teacher smiled, walking to one of the many rows of bookshelves, taking a few seconds to search for something, as he then pulled out a thick, old book with a dark green cover. He opened it, turning the pages while humming a tune, then putting the open book in front of the two boys on the table. Sora peered at the long text._

"_The Third Magic, also known as Heaven's Feel, is a magic that allows for the mat… matire… ma-te-ri-a-li-za-tion… Merlin, what does that mean?" Sora asked, frowning as he did not understand at all what was written down in the old book. Merlin chuckled, pulling the book towards him again._

"_Boys, you both understand that once someone's body is destroyed, not even the most powerful magic can bring them back." _

"_Yes, sir." the twins replied simultaneously. _

"_You also understand that, trying to bring back a soul to its body, is a black magic that should never be experimented with." Merlin paused for a moment as he observed the boys' interested faces, before he continued. "Once upon a time long ago, your ancestors found a way to bring someone's soul back to our world, even after they'd died." _

"_R-really? Our family was that incredible?" Sora said with wide eyes, and though he looked completely baffled, Roxas was far more skeptical._

"_How did they do that?" he asked with a frown. _

"_Ah, well, like Sora read just now, the Third Magic allows for the _materialization _of the soul. That means that it allows a soul to take form in this world, without needing a body. In essence, that soul becomes immortal. But, all of this knowledge was lost a long, long time ago." _

"_Wow… we used to know how to turn people immortal…." Sora muttered, though he wasn't through asking questions just yet. "Can't we get that knowledge back somehow?" _

"_Ah, well, your family attempted it, about three hundred years ago." Merlin sat down across the two boys who were listening keenly, and truly, he had not known more eager students in his time than these two. _

"_What did they try?" Roxas asked, putting his arms on the table as he leaned forward. _

"_As you know, Akasha is the source of all events and phenomena in the universe. It is a place where souls come from and where souls go to after their mortal bodies have passed away. In fact, the ultimate goal of the magi can be considered to reach this place and uncover its secrets._

"_The Everard lineage once had a fragment of Akasha's secrets with their ability to use the Third Magic. After this was lost, they sought to find a way to Akasha and regain the lost power. But, they could not do this on their own. _

"_The Everard family, is one of the three great noble bloodlines which are infamous in the world of magi. The other two, are the Morley lineage and the Thornton lineage. In fact, if I'm not wrong, Sora, your friend Riku is a descendant of the Morley bloodline." _

"_I think so… but he never talks about his family." Sora replied with a shrug. _

"_Okay, what does all this have to do with the Third Magic?" Roxas asked impatiently, not seeing how all the dots connected._

"_Boys, you know about the Holy Grail, don't you?"_

"_It's a cup that makes your wishes come true!" Sora chirped immediately, Roxas rolling his eyes as he leaned back into his chair. _

"_Well, the Holy Grail War was started three hundred years ago, by these three families, in an attempt to regain the knowledge of the Third Magic and find a route to Akasha." _

"_WE started the Holy Grail War?!" Sora said shocked, Merlin holding back his laughter at his flabbergasted reaction. _

"_Oh, yes, but it turned out quite differently than what it initially was intended for. The three families realized, when they had the Holy Grail in their possession, that it could only grant the wish of one person. This caused arguments between them, and so, the first Holy Grail War began. In fact, the Holy Grail itself uses the Third Magic the Everard family once knew."_

"_What? How?" Sora asked confused, not understanding what he was talking about._

"_Oh!" Roxas exclaimed, always having been a tad sharper than Sora was. "The Servants! Their souls are brought back with the Third Magic!" _

"_Yes, indeed, but because even the Holy Grail cannot use the Third Magic completely, the souls of the Servants need the prana of their Masters to stay in this world. I'm afraid, that after the Everard family lost the knowledge, it was never and probably will never be uncovered again." Merlin sighed, standing up from his chair and taking the book away, putting it back on the shelf from which he took it. "Perhaps it's better this way." _

"_Boys, lunch is ready!" one of the maids called from the dining room which was right next to the library. The twins seemed reluctant to leave, and Merlin bent down to ruffle both of their hair._

"_Enough history lessons for today for you two. You'll understand it all a bit better when you grow older. Go on, now." The two boys nodded a little disappointedly, hurriedly running over to the dining room while Merlin watched them go. "They'll grow into fine magi one day, I'm sure of it."_

**Chapter VII: Looming**

"Perfect." The young girl stared down tentatively at the three swirly tattoos on the back of her right hand while her guardian stood near the window of his study, looking outside with a smile on his face, though his head and the upper part of it was covered by the hood of his black cloak. "Everything is proceeding as planned. All the Masters have been chosen. The War should start soon."

The girl glanced up at the man's back, wondering what was that he'd planned. He'd certainly been going on and on about this event for quite a while and had specifically trained her for it for years. She herself did not see the importance of it. Nothing about how the event truly worked had ever been explained to her.

"What happens next?" she asked softly, staying seated on the chair near the desk of her guardian, who turned his head in her direction for a moment, before continuing to stare back out of the window. The sun was slowly sinking down behind the tall clock tower in the distance, marking nightfall.

"Archer, Rider, Saber, Berserker and Lancer have all already been summoned. We shall summon Assassin, from your lineage. That means the last Master must be Caster's Master; but fortunately, he doesn't plan on summoning his Servant until the end of the war. If we find him before then, victory is as good as ours." The girl remained quiet for just a moment as she thought his words over.

"What is so important about Caster?" she eventually spoke up, after not being able to figure it out herself.

"Don't concern yourself with such matters, Naminé. All you need to do is follow my orders for now." he replied curtly, and she aimed her gaze downwards, nodding slowly. "Good girl."

'_With Caster… victory is ours?' _she wondered. _'What could he be planning on doing with Caster?'_

* * *

One week left.

Roxas had to admit he was growing nervous. While he _was _in an alliance with Riku and Kairi, and Demyx was also an ally though he had not summoned his Servant yet, the other Masters would probably form a huge threat. Granted, he knew barely anything about Leon and didn't know what he was planning, so he could be counted as a wildcard, the other Master, Seifer, was certain to try to make Roxas' life as miserable as possible. Plus, there was the seventh, unknown Master as well. When he made his concerns known to his Archer (or rather, said Archer pried them out of him) the man was less than understanding.

"What are you worrying about? Ya got friends to back you up, right?" Axel told him languidly as he'd been lazing around on Roxas' couch in his bedroom, half-heartedly flipping through the pages of a book on airplanes.

"You don't get it. Even if by some miracle the four of us eliminate the other three by getting rid of their Servants, what then?" Axel looked up at that with a slight frown.

"Roxas, eliminating just a Master's Servant may not enough to eliminate them from the War." Roxas stopped pacing, blinking twice as he gaped at Axel who dropped the book on his lap to sit up straight. "No one told you?"

"No one told me _what_?" Roxas repeated anxiously. Axel sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Look, it's just a vague possibility, hardly worth fussing about–"

"Just tell me, Axel!"

"Alright, fine. Let's say there's a Servant whose Master got killed, and a Master whose Servant got killed. What do you think will happen to those two?" At Roxas' blank stare Axel rolled his eyes. "They get assigned to each other, smartass."

"I… I didn't know that was possible." Roxas admitted, wondering whether Sora knew about this since he practically knew everything about the HGW.

"All I'm saying is, it's more practical to get rid of _both _Master and Servant to prevent this from happening."

"So what you're saying is we _kill _someone?!" Roxas hissed, immediately thrown off by the idea. Axel frowned, getting up from the couch and throwing the book on Roxas' desk.

"It's called the Holy Grail _War, _Roxas. Not the Holy Grail Tea Party."

"I'm not going to kill someone over a stupid cup!" the blonde protested immediately as his Servant scowled, folding his arms in deep contemplation for a few seconds.

"Then we're at a disadvantage. There are plenty of people on this world who are more than willing to kill for their goals."

"I'm not one of them."

"Yeah, I got the memo." Axel replied dryly, approaching his Master who seemed rather pissed at him for even suggesting it. "All I'm saying is, what will you do when one of the other Masters target your friends? Would you kill to protect them?" Roxas glared down to the ground, not really wanting to answer that question.

"If I have no other choice…." he eventually mumbled reluctantly, and looked up to his Servant when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't. I can guarantee you that you will have to face this decision at some point. It's better to strike before they do, to ensure your own safety, and your own victory." Roxas was visibly stunned for a moment as he stared up into those harsh, green eyes.

Those were not the eyes of the jokester that had been lounging on his couch just a few minutes ago. Those were the eyes of a battle-hardened war hero, one who'd killed countless of times to protect and would not hesitate to do it again. Roxas didn't know how to reply; he was completely thrown off by the switch in Axel's behavior. The redhead seemed to realize this and pulled his hand back.

"Where did _that _come from?" Roxas asked slowly, and Axel smirked.

"I know I look way too handsome for a war veteran, but you know, I can find my way around a battlefield. Strategy–" Axel said as he tapped on his temple with his finger, "–is a very important part of war. Got it memorized?" The blonde nodded with a slight frown.

"I'm still not going to kill anyone unless they force me to, though." he persisted, and Axel sighed for the second time that day, shaking his head. "And neither can you, Axel!"

"As far as I'm concerned, the minute someone points a blade at my Master, they're toast." Roxas gawked at him for his overprotective attitude, making him chuckle. "Hey, we have a contract, don't we? I take care of you and you give me prana."

"Oh, so you're only protecting me because you _have _to?" Roxas responded, sounding a little more offended than he'd wanted to as he scowled at Axel, who grinned at him.

"Aw, don't get me wrong, Rox; I'd hate to see someone mess up such a pretty face as well-"

"Alright, fine, forget I ever said anything!" Roxas exclaimed immediately, blushing pink while he instantly turned around and left the room, hearing Axel laugh behind him as the Archer followed. They headed to the kitchen, down the stairs, Axel winking at a maid who passed them by and making the girl flush deep red. Roxas rolled his eyes in annoyance but otherwise ignored Axel's behavior, knowing he was only doing it to piss him off.

"By the way, where's your hyperactive brother?" the Archer asked curiously, leaning against a kitchen counter while Roxas rummaged through their fridge.

"Out with Riku and Kairi. He said he'd be– Axel?" The Archer had suddenly stilled in his movements entirely, narrowing his eyes as he stared out the window on their left. That's when Roxas felt it too—a sudden presence right outside, like a sharp pain bursting through his skull. Evil intent; no doubt an enemy Servant. With sudden, rapid movements Axel had already managed to get outside with a sprint and a jump through the open window, Roxas running after him though he stayed inside.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty…" Axel called out nonchalantly while he looked around, then briefly turned to Roxas. "Don't you have any barriers set around this place?"

"We used to, but they expired with my father's death and we don't know anything about magical barriers so we couldn't replace them."

"Then you should get someone who–" A flash of blue nearly pierced Axel's right shoulder had he not dodged in the nick of time by rolling to the right, crouched down on one knee, both his chakrams already summoned. Roxas climbed out the window as well, landing down and summoning his two Keyblades just in case.

They spotted a man standing several feet away, with long, black hair tied in a ponytail and several lances floating behind him, arms crossed as he eyed the both of them appraisingly.

"You know, it's rude to interrupt someone while they're talking." Axel remarked sardonically, casually spinning the chakrams around in his hand.

"Don't worry; I'm not here for a real fight. I'm just evaluating the competition." the unfamiliar Servant spoke arrogantly. "Hmph. Rather disappointing." With a hand gesture, the lance he'd thrown at Axel flew back towards its owner, joining the others which seemed to be levitating because of a form of wind magic.

"Wind against fire? Bad choice, Lancer." the Archer berated him, flames sizzling on his chakrams, making Roxas pale while he immediately took his distance. The enemy Servant did not overlook this.

"Are you sure you can fight with this boy around, Archer?"

"You know my class, huh?"

"Rumors travel fast in this town. And, if it weren't obvious enough already, you may call me Lancer." the Servant retorted with a sadistic smirk, Axel glancing over at Roxas who couldn't seem to stop looking at the flames on his chakrams. The Archer sighed, putting them out, which visibly relaxed Roxas. "Ha! At a third of your strength, and now you don't even want to use your magic? You must be suicidal. You're lucky I'm just taking a walk, Archer."

"Are you Seifer's Servant?" Roxas asked, glaring at the annoying Lancer, who smirked at him.

"Ah, yes, you're Roxas Everard. I don't know what you did to earn the scorn of my Master, but you'll regret it soon enough. Let this be a warning, boy. Your head will be the first I'll take once–" Lancer quickly grabbed a lance and managed to smack away Axel's chakram, which the Archer had flung at him in anger.

"You're not taking any heads from anyone, Lancer. Now beat it already. Your ugly mug is giving me a migraine." Axel sneered at him. The Lancer glowered back, snorting at the empty threat, turning around and vanishing into thin air. Roxas let out a sigh of relief, shoulders relaxing again as he turned to look at Axel.

"That was tense." he said with a slight smile in an attempt to light up the mood. Axel had a serious look on his face as he stared back at Roxas with a mild frown.

"Roxas, we need to do something about your pyrophobia." The blonde blinked.

"…Come again?"

* * *

"You've been quiet lately." At Cloud's raised eyebrows, Leon corrected himself. "More than usual, I mean."

They were out in the supermarket, Cloud in casual clothes he'd borrowed from Leon for the time being. The Rider had been incredibly silent ever since the nightmares had started, and though he didn't wake up screaming or thrashing around anymore, it seemed having a good night's sleep was entirely impossible for the man—especially since he didn't seem to want to talk about his dreams either, which frustrated Leon in turn.

"You can't keep bottling this up, you know." the Master stated as he checked the date on a milk carton, before dropping it in his shopping cart.

"I'm not bottling anything up." Cloud replied with a slight frown, following Leon to the bread section.

"Then who's this Sephiroth guy you keep moaning about when you're asleep?" Cloud froze entirely at Leon's casual remark while the man stopped and turned around to look at him for an answer. When the Rider stayed silent, glaring down at the ground, Leon sighed. "I won't force you to talk about it if you don't want to, but at least don't pretend like everything is alright."

"It won't interfere with my role as your Servant, so why does it matter?" Cloud muttered in response.

"Basic human sympathy." Leon responded simply, pushing the cart forward, having gotten everything he needed from the supermarket and ready to leave.

"You pity me?" Leon stopped walking and gave Cloud an annoyed look.

"No. I just don't like to see other people sulking. Is that so strange?" The Rider opened his mouth to reply, when he suddenly glanced to the left.

"Get down!" He shoved his master to the ground regardless, both of them narrowly dodging three throwing knives which would've otherwise pierced their throats. The other people in the supermarket stared at them in shock—then they got the hint to run when Cloud stood up and summoned his sword, as well as his regular black attire.

"Nice dodge." A woman stood across from them in black, skintight clothes and throwing knives in her hand which were electrified, sparks of lightning showing every now and then. Leon got up as well, looking the woman over.

"Another Servant. Probably, Assassin." he evaluated quickly, his own gunblade appearing in his hand.

"I was taking a casual stroll through town when I sensed the presence of another Servant. You don't look like much though, pretty boy." the Assassin mocked Cloud, though the Rider seemed entirely indifferent to it as he readied his blade.

"We should get outside. You're stronger on Fenrir." Leon hissed at him while not taking his eyes off the blonde woman.

"It won't be a problem." Cloud replied softly.

"Hey, what are you whispering about over there?" the Assassin leered at them, starting to walk towards them.

"In any case, you should get outside." The Rider muttered to his Master, who frowned.

"You have a plan?"

"Sort of."

"What does "sort of" mean?"

"I'll handle it; just go." Leon hesitated for a moment, but then nodded, setting off in a sprint towards the exit.

"Didn't think so!" the Assassin snarled, flinging more throwing knives at him with lightning fast reflexes. Cloud barely had the time to react as he jumped in the way and blocked the knives with his sword, knocking them away. The woman narrowed her eyes at this. "Tch. Fine, I guess you'll do."

'_She's faster than me,' _Cloud realized as she shot towards him like a bullet, her rapid jabs and kicks setting him straight into the defense—and Cloud certainly wasn't a slow fighter either, but she outclassed him. He was being pushed back, and realized that without his ride he'd be at a disadvantage. He jumped back, swinging his huge sword and hooking it on a shopping cart, hurling it towards the Assassin who narrowly dodged it, by rolling to the side—a small opening Cloud used to set in a sprint, jump, materialize Fenrir right below him and take off immediately.

"Come back here!" he heard the Assassin yell at him as he expertly maneuvered his motorcycle through the supermarket, busting through one of its large windows outside while the Assassin chased him. Civilians outside immediately cleared the way, eager to get away from the scene as fast as possible, while Cloud came to a halt on a now empty road, the Assassin standing in the hole he made through the large window of the supermarket as she glared at him.

"Are you running away, Rider?" she taunted him, while Cloud briefly looked around, sensing Leon nearby. He spotted the brunette on the corner of the street, watching tensely.

"Not at all." the Rider finally replied as the Assassin slowly walked onto the road as well, standing right across from him.

"Do you think your stupid little machine can match against my speed?" she mocked him, unimpressed by Fenrir.

"Let's find out." Cloud responded, revving his motor as the Assassin readied her knives. A few seconds of silence passed, until Cloud finally took off at full speed. The Assassin threw a few knives at him preemptively, though with a swing of his blade they were easily knocked away—or so he thought. A shock travelled through his right hand, making him gasp for a moment and nearly lose focus as he closed in on the Assassin who seemed to be aiming for his head. With a great heave he swung his sword again, while he drove right past her, smacking away her knives again, the sheer power behind the attack starting her as she stumbled back and he circled his motor around to face her again.

'_What was that attack? It completely numbed my arm.' _he thought with a deep frown, glancing down. A small cut on his right shoulder, sparks of lightning emanating from it. He'd barely realized he'd been hit, and even with such a small cut it had such a devastating effect. He couldn't afford to get hit again. He made eye-contact with Leon, who gave him a meaningful look.

Of course. She hadn't realized Leon was there too and now she had his back turned on him. If they timed their attack right, they could catch her off-guard. Cloud gritted his teeth, his right hand barely responding to his brain ordering his muscles to flex. All or nothing.

He took off again, the Assassin smirking sadistically as she prepared more of her knives which seemed to spawn infinitely at her command,

She threw more knives at him again, and though Cloud managed to block most of them, two cut his forearm—regardless, he still drove past her, swinging at her like she did before.

Leon aimed, and though the Assassin's reflexes were lightning fast, fast enough to have dodged that bullet otherwise, being so preoccupied with Cloud cost her dearly. She _did _shift to the right in the nick of time, preventing the bullet to pierce a vital organ, but it hit her shoulder nonetheless. Cloud came to a stop near Leon, looking over his shoulder to see the Assassin kneeled on the ground, clutching her bleeding shoulder.

"You'll pay for that!" she screeched furiously, slowly getting up. For a moment it seemed like she was actually angry enough to attack them again, but instead she backed away with a murderous look, vanishing altogether.

"Well, that was… interesting." Leon said wryly. "We'll have to watch out for that one." He barely noticed Cloud's wounds until the Rider dematerialized his sword, clutching his arm which was trembling lightly with a pained expression. "What's wrong?" his Master asked alarmed.

"She got me. I can't use my arm anymore." he grumbled as Leon looked over the small cuts which were still giving off sparks.

"Must be a special property of her knives."

"Can you heal it?" Leon shook his head.

"I don't know a thing about healing magic, let alone removing special effects of weapons on wounds. I'll have to call a professional healer." He sighed, his gunblade vanishing from his hand in a soft smoke. "At least we know we can take her with teamwork. She seems like a bad sensor, or she would've noticed me before back there. We can use that against her if she comes after us in the future."

"I suppose." Cloud conceded, getting off his motor as it too dematerialized just like his sword. "We should look for the other Servants, though I doubt anyone will form a greater threat than… Saber…." The tone in which he spoke piqued Leon's interest as he stared intently at his Rider's face; his eyes holding some sort of inner turmoil.

"Do you know something about Saber?" Cloud glanced at him and quickly looked away, staring down at the ground. "If you know something–"

"Not here. When we get back." Cloud cut him off softly, starting to walk back onto the pavement. Leon sighed, getting severely irritated with his Rider's aloof behavior. What was it with that Saber that seemed to bother him so much, anyway? He was at least relieved Cloud wasn't hiding _this _from him, like he did the constant nightmares that plagued him. Leon had certainly researched the name "Sephiroth" in any way imaginable, but history records showed absolutely nothing.

Just when he thought he'd been starting to figure the blonde Servant out, he was thrown in front of another riddle once again, and his patience was wearing thin. They were supposed to be a team, which wouldn't work on a one-sided trust. Not to mention, he really didn't like seeing Cloud brooding like that; no longer even _attempting _to crack any jokes like he did when they first met. Leon just hoped that they'd be able to resolve this issue before Assassin went after them again—or worse, Saber.

* * *

**A/N: There may be some grammar mistakes I overlooked because it's rather late at night and I need some sleep, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!**

**Also, in case it was unclear: Xaldin is Seifer's Servant and he's Lancer. Larxene is Naminé's Servant, and she's Assassin.**

**Any guesses as to who the Caster is? I bet no one will be able to guess it!**


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